Marks of Anubis
by Mari the Cryptic
Summary: THIS IS A SEQUEL! Please read the first story (Mysteries of Anubis) before reading this one! Another term, another mystery. Mary Ann is back in England, but this term is in no way calm. Life is at the stake, cards are played, and the romantic tension has never been higher. Rated T for language.
1. Frequencies

_Thanks for reading. If you don't know already, this is the sequel so please check out the first bit "Mysteries of Anubis". I'm going on a trip tonight so I will not be able to write anything. However, I'll only be gone for a week so yeah. Let's say the next chapter update is June 23rd, alright? Seems like a long wait, but I think you're up to the task._

_This chapter goes out to __**houseofanubisfan2**__, who has been review my story since chapter one!_

**CHAPTER ONE HOUSE OF FREQUENCIES**

It's not that I hate trains. It's the long periods of time sitting in them that drive me mad. But it is all worth it. My name is Mary Ann Norton. I'm American and I go to an English boarding school. My best friend is my roommate, Amber Millington. She came up with Sibuna, a club that is devoted into discovering the mysteries behind Anubis House. Last year, we uncovered a secret society where our teachers tried to live forever!

This required the Chosen One, the Chosen Hour, the Elixir of Life, and the Cup of Ankh. They thought a girl named Joy Mercer was the Chosen One, so they withdrew her from the school. The Cup was actually broken into seven pieces scattered throughout the house. Only the Chosen One, during the Chosen Hour (which happened to be during our end-of-term prom), could assemble the seven pieces to form the Cup. Then they would drink the Elixir of Life from it and gain immortality. But, as it turned out, Joy wasn't the Chosen One and couldn't make the Cup. Didn't I mention?

I am the Chosen One.

I made the Cup, watched as the evil Rufus Zeno drank from it, found out the elixir he drank was a fake, retrieved the Cup from the furnace, and still made it back in time to be crowned Prom Queen. Yeah, it was a crazy term.

I also go to kiss Fabian. He was the first to accept me into the school, and helped me with the mysteries before there even was a Sibuna club. He was my first best friend, but now he's more than that. At first, I wasn't sure if he liked me in the way I liked him, and our housemates kept teasing us about it, but we finally got together.

I couldn't wait to see him again while I was in America. We texted, called, and emailed all the time. But it wasn't the same as actually talking face-to-face.

But getting to the school was a pain in the ass. Not only did I have to take an airplane from California to England (which is eleven hours long, mind you), but I also had to take a four-hour train, and then a cab for the thirty-minute-long trip from the train station to the school.

Again, it was all worth it.

I read a book in the cab. I was so engrossed in it, I blindly paid the cabbie and read whilst walking into the house. I had walked through those doors a million times before, so it was easy to navigate through. I left my suitcase in the hall with all the others.

The one thing I didn't see was that Trudy left the doors into the living room closed.

_BAM!_

Everything blurred and my head hit the floor. I stared up at the ceiling, stunned for a moment. I then moaned, rubbing my head. I sat up from my sprawled state on the floor. The living room doors opened and a head peeked out.

A sharp squeal attacked the sound waves around. "Mary Ann!" my roommate-and-best-friend screeched happily. I smiled shyly at her.

"Aw man!" I groaned, picking up my book. "I lost my page! And it was at the best part!"

"I take it that means you're OK?" Patricia's voice joked. The doors flew open and I saw Amber, Patricia, Mick, Mara, Joy, and Fabian.

"Yeah, massive headache though…" I rubbed my head again. Amber helped me up and then hugged me. I hugged Patricia and said hi to Joy as I entered the living room. Mick and Mara were all snuggly on the couch so I smiled that them. Mara got up to hug me. I said hi a lot.

"Still American?" Patricia asked jokingly.

"Still Patricia?" I replied the same. She, Amber and I laughed. I looked over at Fabian, who was smiling at me. I smiled even brighter. He hadn't changed at all. "Hey."

"Hey." He replied.

"OK, time to make a discrete exit, everyone!" Amber called out, not so discretely. But I was still grateful to be alone with Fabian. Patricia left to show Joy her room that she was going to share with Mara and her. Amber and the others went who-knows-where. It was just me and Fabian left. I walked up to him.

"So, em," I laughed. He still stuttered. "How was your flight?"

"Ugh, don't remind me." I shuddered at the memory. He laughed. "It was far too long. You?"

"I came by car?" he said. We both laughed.

"You know what I mean." I rolled my eyes. I gave him a hug and tilted my head up. He leaned down and our lips barely touched when–

"Do you mind?!" Jerome exclaimed rudely as he barged into the living room. I jumped. "People are eating in here, thank you very much." Alfie came in as well, snatching a brownie. I stuck my tongue out at Jerome and then swiftly pecked Fabian on the lips.

Fabian offered a plate of brownies. "All mine," I said as I took the plate and made a defensive stance over them. He and Alfie laughed.

_~ Next morning ~_

I snuck out of the house early and ran to the school. I didn't want to leave it unprotected, but I had to.

I pulled out a plank in the stage in the drama studio. The Cup of Ankh gleamed back at me in the sunlight. I smiled. Yes, no one found it! I picked it up, feeling the familiar rush in my fingertips.

"Take it," Sarah had instructed me last year after she relieved the curse. "Hide it. Keep it safe." A door banged open. I got up and ran behind a door.

"Is somebody in here?" Mr. Sweet's voice called out. I held the Cup to my chest and hoped he wouldn't spot me. I heard his footsteps close by. He tut-tutted and I knew he found the plank I took out. He fixed it and then left. I sighed silently in relief. I glanced back at the Cup.

"Now where to put you…." I muttered. I got up and returned to the house.

_~ Breakfast ~_

I entered the living room. Almost everyone was sitting at the table eating breakfast. I sat down at my normal seat. "Good morning." I greeted.

"Hey, I was wondering where you were!" Fabian said.

"Just had something to fix." I replied mysteriously. He intertwined his fingers with mine.

"Everything OK?" he asked.

"Yeah, totally."

"You sure?"

"Yes." I rolled my eyes. He smiled at me and I grinned back.

"It's gotten very couply in here!" Joy commented as she walked into the room.

"Not wrong there, Joy," Alfie said, scooting next to Amber and holding her hand.

"Uh, what are you doing?" she questioned, taking her hand back. They had a short conversation before I lost interest.

"Em, your last mail mentioned something about your grandmother coming over?" Fabian asked me.

"Hmm?" I swallowed the piece of banana I had in my mouth. "Yeah! She's coming to England and staying at a hotel in town. She's delighted to finally be able to meet you all. Especially you, Fabian."

"Yeah, we do breed better geeks over here." Patricia joked. We all cracked up. I looked at Fabian. Yes, yes they sure did. Amber tapped my foot. I leaned over.

"Sibuna reunion, midnight feast in the attic." She informed. "Pass it on."

I nodded and tapped Fabian. "Midnight Sibuna feast in the attic." I told him. He nodded.

_~ Midnight ~_

When all was quiet, Amber and I snuck into the hall. Patricia tiptoed over to us from her room, holding a flashlight.

"Do we have anything to pick the lock?" Amber asked as we walked to the attic door. On cue, the attic door opened. All by itself. I jumped and Amber and Patricia gasped.

"I forgot the house was alive." I whispered. The attic door creaked wider.

"Whoa." Amber stated.

"Welcome back to Creepy Towers," Patricia joked.

"Maybe this midnight feast should take place in daylight?" Amber asked in scared tone. "Good night!" She tried to back away but Patricia and I dragged her back. We walked up into the attic, Patricia closing the door behind her. The boys came up a moment later, after the girls and I had already set up a blanket. We sat in a circle.

"Sibuna, everyone." Amber said, right hand over her right eye. "Welcome back." The rest of us did the Sibuna gesture.

"No trouble with Victor?" I asked the boys.

"No," Fabian replied, "he wasn't in his office. Maybe he's finally changed his way and gone to bed early." I chuckled.

"Well he needs his beauty sleep," Amber said, "He is a hundred and one."

"Ninety-six, actually." I corrected. We all laughed anyways.

"Hey, talking about creeps obsessed with living forever," Patricia said. She took a flyer out from a bag. "I thought you guys might be interested in this." She passed the paper to me. My eyes skimmed over it and I gasped.

"An obituary for Renee Zeldman!" I told the others. Renee Zeldman's real name was Rufus Zeno, the evil guy from last year.

"Rufus…" Alfie said. There was a moment of silence. Even though he had lied, kidnaped, and almost killed us multiple times, it was still hard to believe he was just… gone.

"Guess he found out he wasn't immortal the hard way." Fabian said. To ruin the moment, Alfie opened a can of soda, which spilled everywhere and made Amber screech.

"ALFIE!" she complained. The rest of us laughed. Suddenly the attic door could be heard unlocking.

"What was that?" Fabian asked.

"Someone's coming." Alfie said. The inner attic door creaked open and I braced myself for the worse when–

Joy's head popped in.

"Joy!" Patricia exclaimed. I relaxed greatly. At least it wasn't Victor. "You scared us to death!"

"Guys!" Joy called down the stairway. "They're in here!" In came in Jerome, Mara and Mick.

"Nice hangout, guys." Mick commented.

"I can't believe you're having an Anubis midnight reunion and you didn't invite us." Joy said. I glanced at Sibuna.

"Surprise!" Patricia covered.

"Aye!" I added with the others. They didn't buy it.

"We wanted to welcome you back properly." Patricia lied. Joy rolled her eyes.

"Up here?" she asked.

"Hey, she locked me up here during my first week, at least you have a picnic." I told her. Most of the kids laughed.

"While I'm asleep?" Joy continued to question.

"Yeah," I went on. "Isn't it such a surprise?" They cracked smiles.

"I'll just get another sheet." Amber said. The others came into our circle. I scooted closer to Fabian to make room.

"Wow…" Amber said, standing a few feet away. I looked to see a… dollhouse? Of Anubis house? "Help me move it, Mary!" I got up, but picked it up easily.

"Really?" I asked her with an eyebrow raised. "It's not that heavy."

While everyone laughed, Alfie said, "Or maybe you're just really buff."

Irked, I brought the dollhouse close to the ground and then dropped it on his foot. He screeched an "ow!" and hopped around on the other foot, clutching the first one.

"Oh my toe!" he hopped away.

"Sorry." I said sarcastically. "I'm just so buff, you know." The others laughed.

"Shush you two." Patricia said. I brushed a finger over the front of the dollhouse, collecting a layer of dust and wondering how the hell I never saw it before.

"You know, I've always wanted a dollhouse." Amber said absentmindedly.

"Even one that's a replica of the old Anubis House?" Fabian asked.

"Where dollies go to die." Alfie said in a funny voice. I rolled my eyes with a light laugh.

"WHOEVER IS UP THERE," Victor's voice boomed from downstairs. I jumped. "COME DOWN IMMEDIATELY." People rushed to put things away. Fabian and Amber hid the dollhouse. Jerome went to the door. The rest of us put the food away. "DID YOU HEAR WHAT I JUST SAID?" Everyone started to file out of the room. But something forced me to stay, an invisible outside force. I opened my bag and stared at the Cup of Ankh.

Realization hit. Where to put it, where should I put it?

I glanced around. Somewhere no one would look, somewhere safe. The panel was beyond question, Victor smashed it in.

"MARY ANN NORTON!" Victor called. "ARE YOU UP THERE TOO?" A small but bright light caught my eye. I ran to it. It was a piece of stone, jutting out. It had an oval-shaped cut, just like on the panel, like on my locket! I reached under my shirt and pulled out the necklace. Placing it on the cut, a panel opened. It had enough space for the Cup! I shoved it into the panel and resealed it. I was about to exit the door when it opened, Victor rushing in.

I was so surprised that I jumped back. My hand hit a box and it toppled over. "What are you playing at?" he yelled. "Just look what you've done." He pointed at the spilled box and growled at me. "Get out." When I didn't move, he yelled. "GET OUT!" I ran into the stairway. Before I could leave, I heard a little girl's voice. The recording of a voice, by the sound of it.

"The athenaeum is the place to look. Lift the wings to find the book. Hidden in this book of old, water of life and tears of gold."

What?

_~ Morning ~_

"What do you mean you can't remember our arrangement?" Alfie asked Amber as they walked into the living room.

"I don't make arrangements within forty-eight hours of advance, unless it's spontaneous." Amber replied.

"But you promised you'd be my girlfriend last term. I have witnesses!" He gestured to us.

"Heard it with my own ears." Jerome agreed.

"Me too." Fabian piped in.

"Patricia, Joy, help me out here." Amber said.

"What about me?" I cried. Jerome laughed.

"Actually Amber," Joy said, "you did say that."

"Yes, OK, but I thought he was dying!" Amber excused. "That's what Daddy calls a loophole."

"I say no, if anyone cares." I muttered. "She said she'd be his girlfriend if Victor helped him stay alive. Victor didn't, so it is invalid." Of course, only Fabian heard, which he chuckled to.

"Patricia?" Amber asked. "What about you?"

"Come on, Judge Trixie." Alfie said.

"OK, no." she replied. "Amber didn't quite say that." Amber smiled and Alfie looked confused.

"Thank you." Amber said.

"What she did actually said was," Patricia continued, "Yes, yes, yes. Anything." I cracked up along with Jerome. Alfie high-fived Fabian.

"Thanks a bunch." Amber said sarcastically. "So much for the sisterhood."

"In there, please, I want a word with all of you." Mick and Mara entered the room, Victor shooing them. "Sit down, please! Sit!" He stood behind me, leaning on the back of my chair. What was with him doing that? I gripped Fabian's hand as the hairs on the back of my neck rose.

"So," Victor continued, "First night back, and already you are up to no good! Well, I shall not stand for your nonsense this term." He started passing around toothbrushes. "Do you hear me? Well?"

"Yes, Victor." We chorused.

"Wait, does this mean all of us cleaning one toilet?" Mick smiled. No, Mick, it wouldn't be that easy. It never is.

"No, Mr. Campbell, no." Victor said, leaning over my chair. "It means all of you cleaning every single toilet in the entire school." We all groaned.

"This is a fifty pound manicure, I'll have you know!" Amber cried after Victor as he left.

"He's definitely missed us." Jerome noted.

_~ School ~_

"Something about water of life, and tears of gold." I told Fabian. "And the doll mentioned an old book that can be found in an… athenaeum?"

He shut his locker. "I don't know about tears of gold, but an athenaeum is another word for library."

"And this is why I love dating a word nerd." I teased. He laughed.

"And you can guess what water of life means." He said.

"Self-explanatory." I shrugged. "Elixir."

"Hey guys." Mara bounced over to us, Mick close behind. I smiled at her. "Mick and I are going into town tomorrow night to catch a movie. Want to come?"

"Yeah, sounds great." Fabian smiled at me.

"I'd certainly love to." I agreed. Mick and Fabian did a handshake at the couple walked off.

"Oh finally!" Fabian cheered to me. "A proper date! And this time no evil maniacs or poisonous flies." I laughed. Jerome walked past us, hat and scarf covering his head.

"Hey Jerry." I greeted. He continued to walk. "Fine then." Maybe it wasn't Jerome. The two of us walked into class. I kept an eye on the guy in the hat. It was Jerome. So why didn't he say anything… I turned around to sit when I saw Joy sitting next to Fabian.

"Oh, Joy…" Fabian pointed to me, awkwardly standing there.

"Oh," she said in realization. "Is this…" I nodded. "We, we used to share… I, I forgot." She picked up her stuff. "I'll go." She got up.

"Sorry." I told her sincerely as I took her spot.

"Morning!" Mrs. Andrews walked into the room. We echoed a hello.

"Loving the new hair, Mrs. A." I commented, and then pretended I didn't say anything. She had grown out her hair since last term.

"Thank you, Miss Norton." She said. I blushed and Fabian laughed, holding my hand on the desk. "Right, uh, world literature. Fairy tales and folk stories. Hand these out, page twenty-two please."

_~ Break ~_

Fabian, Patricia, Joy and I sat in the lounge. We were deciding Fabian's new profile picture on Chumchatter.

"That one," Joy said. "I love you in that shirt."

"Mary Ann?" he asked me.

"I love you in all of them." I shrugged. "But I like this one the best." I pointed to the one of him smiling straight at the camera. "It makes your eyes stand out more."

"No way!" Joy protested. "Patricia, tell him."

"I think he looks like a dork in all of them." Patricia said, calling neutrality. After a small moment of thinking, Fabian chose the picture I picked out. The screen shifted to his main page. "Hey, it still says single, Fabian!" Patricia noticed. They all looked at me.

"Change it immediately!" I said in a deep voice. "Or the consequences shall be severe!" They all laughed.

"Sorry, I'll change that." He typed away on the computer. Patricia walked around the chair to sit next to Joy.

"Hey Jerome." We all said, looking at him. He sighed and took off his glasses and hat.

_~ After school ~_

"Here it is," Fabian led me to an abandoned building. "The Frobisher Library." I linked arms with him. "It's been closed since the 70s, I always wondered what was in there." I chuckled. "What?"

"I should have known our romantic stroll would lead to a library." I teased, giving him a kiss on the cheek. He laughed. "Do you think this is the athenaeum from the riddle?" I asked as we walked closer.

"If the doll is as old as you sat it is," he replied. I unattached myself from him and ran to a blocked window. I climbed on a step and peered in. "Then the library we use at school wasn't even built, so yeah." He summed up. I could see anything through the old wood. I smiled back at him. I walked back to him and we went to the door. He pushed it and it… opened?

"Huh?" I said in surprise. Wasn't it supposed to be closed?

"It's open," Fabian said. "Did your locket do that?"

"Don't look at me for this." I said, hands in the air. He looked back at the door with puzzlement. "Let's check it out." I pushed the door open wider and stepped in.

"Mary Ann!" Fabian whispered. I entered further to find another door. Fabian followed close behind. We walked in and I heard Mr. Sweet's voice.

"What exactly are we looking for, Victor?" he asked. Fabian and I snuck behind a bookshelf covered in a sheet. What, Victor was here too? What were they doing here?

"Press the wings to find the book," Victor recited from the doll. I mouthed 'riddle' to Fabian, who was standing right by my shoulder. "The goddess Isis is depicted as having wings, perhaps some kind of engraving or carving…"

"It could be anything." Mr. Sweet said. "What about on one of these bookshelves?" I shut my eyes. Please don't find us, please don't find us, please don't–

_FLAP!_

Sweet started coughing. I sighed silently. He didn't find us.

"I think it highly unlikely that Robert Frobisher-Smythe would hide the book of Isis on a bookshelf, Eric." Victor said. It felt weird, hearing Mr. Sweet addressed by his first name. Mr. Sweet continued to cough. I peered over to find Victor looking away. I snuck over to the next bookshelf, Fabian following.

Victor recited the line from the riddle. I curled up on the floor behind the bookshelf. Fabian crouched down, leaning over me in an almost protective pattern. Something creaked sharply, and then the scratching sound off rock against rock.

"ERIC!" Victor cried. A moment, and then, "No… It's gone! The Book of Isis is gone!" I glanced at Fabian, who had the same confused look on his face as I did. "The recipe for the Elixir eludes me still." I looked startled towards Fabian.

"Perhaps we should just face the truth, Victor," Mr. Sweet said calmly. "The Elixir is finished, the Cup has been destroyed, and it's over. You have said so yourself."

"We had the Elixir, Eric." Victor argued. "It would by us time. And with time, alternative solutions can present themselves." A book from our bookshelf fell over. Fabian leaned away as another fell as well. The two adults went silent.

I hugged my knees and held my breath. Fabian leaned over me, so close I could practically hear his heartbeat beating fast. The _flap, flap_ of the sheets as Victor ripped them off filled the silence.

There was a silence before the sheet on our bookshelf rustled. I squeezed my eyes shut and Victor yanked the sheet back.


	2. Psyches

_Hey guys, I'm back! But guess what, I'm heading out on another trip. However, I may or may not have Internet (I really don't know). I can't tell you exactly when the next update is, but I'll see if I can make it soon. Anyways, enjoy this chapter!_

**CHAPTER TWO HOUSE OF PSYCHES**

Victor yanked the sheet back. Both of the men walked to the side and saw us.

"What are you doing here?" Victor asked. "Well? Speak up!"

"We saw the door was open," Fabian lied, "So we just came in."

"Noises were echoing loudly from inside." I added.

"Yeah, and libraries are the most haunted places next to attics and deserted highways, so…" Fabian trailed off.

"There are no spooks here." Mr. Sweet bought. Victor glared at me. "But you still can't wander around deserted areas. Hmm? Back to your house." We were about to go when Victor blocked my way.

"Ah, bags." He held out a hand. I gripped my bag, but held it out for him. He snatched it and performed a bag search. Oh thank goodness I had gotten rid of the Cup. When he was unsuccessful in finding anything, Victor shoved the bag at me. He did the same to Fabian's bag. "Go." He said after giving Fabian's bag to him. Without another word, we fled the building.

"That was seriously close." I laughed to Fabian. I kissed him for a quick second before smiling at him.

_~ At the house ~_

"They talked about the elixir." I said as we entered the living room. Instantly, the smell of cupcakes attacked my nose. "Vicky isn't done yet."

"But you heard what Sweetie said." Fabian countered as we sat down on the couch. "They don't have the recipe and the Cup was destroyed."

"Yeah, about that…" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"What is that amazing smell?" Amber asked, walking into the room. I turned back to Fabian.

"I'll tell you later." I covered up. He sighed.

"Fine."

"I just don't know what we should do. I mean, this isn't like finding the Ankh pieces." I turned my head to the sound of the blender, and saw it spilling everywhere. "Alfie! You forgot the cap!" I scolded from the couch. Fabian and I laughed. "Sarah would know what I should do," I confided in him. "If only I could dream of her again."

"I tried to make myself dream of Justin Bieber once," Amber said, sitting on the armrest of the nearby chair. "Except it wasn't Justin Bieber, it was just a beaver." She made some weird beaver teeth. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Ambs, what are you saying?" I asked.

"Why? What are you talking about?" she retorted.

"Uh, dreams?" I said half-truthfully.

"Me too!" she exclaimed. "I'll lend you this book I have. It's really good." She took my hand and started leading me out of the room.

"Help me!" I cried dramatically to Fabian.

_~ Night ~_

"And then next, count your breaths and with each breath, imagine yourself walking down a staircase." Amber read from her book. "One step at a time. And then the beaver – I mean, Bieber is waiting for you at the bottom." She sat on my bed just as there was a knock on the door.

Alfie walked in. "Here you go, Amber, the first gift of many." He presented her with a box.

Amber gasped. "Aw, you shouldn't have!" she cooed, taking the box. "How many exactly?"

Before he could reply, Victor called curfew downstairs. "Got to go." Alfie said happily, and fled the room. Amber opened the box.

"Cupcakes!" she cheered. "Yummy!"

"Aw, that's cute." I said. "Can I have one?"

"Of course, Mary, how else am I going to eat all these?" She rolled her eyes, showing me that there were 5 cupcakes in the box.

_~ Later that night ~_

**"Five… four… three… two… one." I reached the bottom of the stairs. I stepped into the hall. "Sarah? Anyone?" No one. "I need help. Sarah?" No one answered. I turned around to ascend the staircase when Victor popped out of nowhere in my way. I gasped and jumped back.**

**"Dry your eyes, Chosen One." He told me. What? My eyes weren't– **

**I brushed a hand over my eyes to feel they were wet. But the liquid sparkled on my hand. Tears of gold. I looked back, but Victor disappeared.**

**"Sarah, I need you." I cried. My vision changed and I was in the attic. The dollhouse Amber found was in front of me. One of the windows lit up. Then another, and another, until all the windows had been lit.**

I woke up screaming. Although why I was screaming, I had no clue. I turned on the light and glanced at Amber, who was having a nightmare. I screamed again, finding a reason. She woke up and started screaming as well.

"Your face, Amber! Your face!" I cried. She took out a mirror to see herself. Her entire face was red like she had a rash. She screamed again.

"WHAT?" Trudy ran into the room, turning on the light. "Where's the intruder?" She held a frying pan. When she saw Amber, she yelped.

_~ Morning ~_

"So Amber," Joy said, "talk me through the new 'do." Amber brushed her long blonde hair in front of her face so no one would see the ugly rash. Amber didn't reply.

Alfie walked. Amber stood up. "Alfie. Lewis." She said angrily. "Look at my face." Kind of hard, Amber, since your hair is covering it.

"Beautiful as ever I – WHOA!" Amber brushed the hair away. Jerome and Alfie reacted poorly.

"It's not that bad, is it that bad?" Amber fretted, turning to Joy and Patricia.

"Amber, you look like a balloon animal." Jerome said.

"I knew it!" Amber exclaimed.

"Amber, you know I love you for your inner beauty and no matter what deformed illness you may have–" Alfie stop.

"It's you, you doofus!" Amber yelled at him. "I'm allergic to raspberries! And you made me raspberry-flavored cupcakes!"

"Oh…" Amber punched him in the shoulder. The doorbell rang.

"Tell me the truth," Amber asked us girls. Jerome left to get the door. "Hair?" She brushed her hair in her face. "Or no hair?" She brushed it out.

"Hair." Patricia said as Joy said, "Definitely hair."

"Just wear some concealer." I shrugged off. Jerome came in with a wrapped thing. Alfie took it.

"Here we go, this will cheer you up, Amber." he said.

"What is it?" she asked cautiously.

"Flowers." He smiled. She took the thing, then immediately dropped it screaming.

"Ow, ow, ow!" she cried, shaking her hands. I picked up the potted plant. It was a cactus.

"It's a cactus." Amber said bluntly. "You got me a cactus."

"Fail." I spoke to Alfie. "Epic fail."

Amber sat down, only to jump up screaming.

"Oh good you found it!" Jerome cheered, picking up a cactus from her seat.

Amber turned onto Alfie. "No more gifts, Alfie." She told him, on the verge of tears. "When I said you shouldn't have, you really shouldn't have." She ran out of the room.

_~ After school ~_

I blinked twice, suddenly on the staircase. How did I get here? Wasn't I in my bedroom?

"But you must stay." I heard Trudy say as I walked down the stairs.

"Oh you're so kind." A familiar voice replied. My heart skipped a beat and I looked down. There in the main hall stood Trudy and an old woman. Her auburn hair was graying and she wore a faded blue jacket over her black jeans.

"GRAN!" I screamed, running down the stairs. Both women looked at me.

"Oh! Hi, darling!" she greeted. I enveloped her in a hug. "Miss me already? Are you OK?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? Are you?" I asked. "What's with all the bags?" I looked at the three suitcases by the door.

"Just my luck to pick a hotel that floods." She told me sarcastically.

"And all the other hotels are full, so I thought your gran could stay in your room tonight." Trudy said.

"Omigosh, Gran you totally have to!" I grinned. "I'm so glad your hotel flooded!"

"So am I." She smiled at me. So many years we've been together. She was more than just my grandmother, she was a part of me…

"Oh man, I've got to introduce you to everyone. Come on!" I dragged her into the living room. Thankfully, the majority of the house was already there.

"Everyone!" I called out. "There's someone you ought to meet! This is Evelyn Norton, aka Gran, aka my grandmother!" There was a weird reply of unsynchronized hellos back. "Gran, that's Jerome and Alfie." I pointed to them. "Mick and Mara. Patricia, Joy and Fabian." I pointed them out, smiling at Fabian. "Amber's upstairs right now, but you can meet her later."

"Alright." She commented. She was still looking at Fabian.

"Gran's hotel flooded, so she's staying a couple night with us in my room." I informed everyone.

_~ Evening ~_

Gran was showing us pictures when Mick and Mara walked in. "See you guys later." They said in unison. They laughed.

"You do realize you're going to be spending the entire film explaining the plot to him." Jerome said to Mara.

"Shut up, Clark." Mick told Jerome. The couple turned to Fabian and me. "Are you sure you can't come?"

"Sorry." I replied. Fabian held up a picture. They walked away. Gran showed us another picture, this time of gargoyles.

"Mary Ann Norton." Victor boomed, pointing at me threateningly as he entered through the living room doors. "Fabian Rutter." He stopped when he saw Gran. He backed off and left.

"Ooh, was that the Victor?" Gran asked. I nodded. "Why didn't you say he was cute?" Everyone started laughing.

"Oh gods, Gran," I shook my head. "He's too old for you." Sibuna cracked up even more.

_~ Night ~_

Gran slept in my bed while I slept in a spare mattress on the floor. I packed up my bag and snuck out of the room. I snuck up into the attic to see Fabian already there.

"Hey." I whispered. He replied with a smile. I set up a blanket and took out some snacks I had snuck upstairs. Fabian just grinned and ate a cookie.

"This isn't a movie and popcorn," I said, snuggling next to him. "But that's normal couple stuff. We aren't a normal couple." He took my hand.

"Look, it's perfect." He told me. "If it wasn't for this attic, we might never have even got together."

"Well, when you put it that way." I giggled. It was true. If it hadn't been for that mystery, I would never have gotten to know Fabian the way I did. I leaned in, as did he, and we were just about to kiss when I saw the panel containing the Cup glow bright. I kissed him quickly on the lips and got up.

I walked over to the panel. "I've got to move it if it keeps glowing like that." I complained. Fabian's eyes widened when he saw the panel. "I had the date up here for another reason." I took out my locket and opened the panel. The Cup of Ankh glowed.

"The Cup." Fabian said. "But I thought it had been destroyed."

"It can't be destroyed." I told him.

"I wish they made rings like that." Amber said, opening the attic door. We both jumped.

"Ambs…"

"I broke two over the summer," she went on. "One of them fell in the pool, and the other got run over by the limo." She looked at the panel. "Is that the Cup? Is this Sibuna, is it starting again?"

"No," I said immediately. "And why did you come up here? It was supposed to be a date!"

"Aw, sweet." Amber cooed when she saw the picnic blanket. "Weird, but sweet." I took the Cup from the panel. I pressed the END cap button in the middle of the bowl. The glowing died and the Cup returned to normal.

"Good Cup." I said. "No more glowing like crazy." I put it back into the panel and closed it. I sighed, disappointed that my night with Fabian was over so quickly. "We should go. Vicky might catch us again." I picked up my bag and the blanket.

"Three's a crowd. I get it." Amber announced. "My bad." Fabian picked up the leftover things and we walked out the door.

_~ Morning ~_

I was brushing my teeth when there was a knock on the door. "Just a minute!" I yelled. The house creaked a bit and I stared at the door. There were shadows under the door. I spat out my toothpaste. I crept to the door and reached out for the doorknob.

I yanked the door open and yelped when I saw a skeleton. Alfie, who was holding the skeleton, yelped as well. "Sorry, I thought you were Amber." He said.

"What?" I gestured to the skeleton.

"I was trying to apologize for yesterday." He explained.

"With… a skeleton?" I tried to make sense of that, but failed.

"Too much?" he asked.

"Yuh-huh." I nodded. He took the skeleton and left. I rolled my eyes and finished getting ready for school

_~ School ~_

"Shame you couldn't come last night," Mara told Fabian and me as we (plus Mick) walked down the hall. "The movie was amazing."

"Yeah, we had some fun looking at Gran's photos." I said, "Right, Fabian?"

"Yeah, yeah, no, who doesn't love looking at someone else's holiday." He said with a nervous laugh.

"You didn't like it did you." I picked at his lying.

"No." he admitted.

"Don't worry, neither do I." I told him. "Just smile and nod and pretend you're interested." He smiled at me. We turned the hallway to a roaring laughter. They were all gathered around a portrait hanging on the wall.

"Is that… Jerome?" Mick asked. I started cracking up. He was wearing a frilly blue polka dot dress and giant hat.

"He makes a real pretty lady." Patricia commented. I laughed even harder.

"And I have plenty more where that came from." A girl, probably twelve years old, with blond-ish hair and green eyes said. She handed us some pictures. "Here we have my brother, Jerome–" Wait… Jerome had a sister? How do you hide a sister? "–sitting on his potty, age two. Jerome, crying on Santa's knee, age eleven." Jerome came pushing into the crowd just then.

"Poppy!" he growled.

"Oh, hi Gerbil." She greeted. "Remember the time you dressed up as a girl?"

"They made me do, they made me do it!" he told everyone, trying to gain some dignity. "It was a school play!" He looked at me. "It's a kind of Christmas tradition over here, Mary Ann."

"Hey, I'm American." I shrugged. "I don't care."

"You never told us you had a kid sister." Joy said.

"That's because I refuse to acknowledge she exists." He replied. "Take it down now."

"No chance." She replied. Jerome stole her bag. "Get off!"

"Bag," he said. He dug around. As his sister yelled at him to give it back, he said, "You do the crime, you pay the fine." He held a phone high in the air.

"Jerome, why do you have to be so mean?" Mara asked.

"Uh, do you see what Poppy's doing?" I asked her in disbelief.

"What is going on out here?" Mr. Sweet entered. "Haven't any of you have classes to go to?" I walked down the hall and into the lounge with the rest of the Anubis people.

"And it's definitely better today." Amber said as she looked at her reflection.

"Yeah, you're gorgeous." I complimented with an eyeroll.

"Trudy's clearing out the attic." Alfie announced as he ran into the room.

"Whoa-Wait-WHAT?" I asked.

"I saw her junking the old dollhouse you liked, Amber." Alfie told Amber.

"No!" she cried, standing up. "I was going to ask for that!" She ran out of the room.

"The Cup." I realized.

"It should be safe, shouldn't it?" Fabian assured me.

"Oh man, I hope." I rubbed my eyes nervously. I had a habit of babbling when I got nervous, but I finally got over it over summer break. "I'll double-check tonight."

"Yeah." He said. I walked over to the couch.

"He's got a sister?!" Alfie exclaimed. I drew my attention to him.

"Poppy?" Fabian said, "Yeah, she started this term." Fabian walked and sat next to me.

"Why is Jerome always so secretive about everything?" Mara asked.

"It's not like a sister would come up in conversation." I defended.

"Who keeps a sister a secret?" Patricia asked. "Weird."

"No, weird is Jerome in a dress." I corrected. Mick laughed.

"I can't believe it," Alfie said, "I mean, I tell him everything. Even some stuff I definitely should've held back, like my fear of red doors and olives." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"And here we have the drama studio." Mr. Sweet entered, along with another man in a suit. Victor followed closely behind. The man must have been Gustav Ziestack, the manager of some exhibition that the teachers told us about.

"We also use it as a student lounge as well." I added.

"Good afternoon, everyone." Sweetie greeted.

"Afternoon, Mr. Sweet." We chorused.

"And has Mr. Sweet filled you in on the history of the Anubis estate?" Victor asked, continuously rubbing his hands and he was leaning forward so much he was practically bowing. "It's really quite, quite fascinating."

"The Frobisher-Smythes once owned it, didn't they?" the man said.

"That's right!" Victor said. I looked at Fabian with confusion.

"And moving on," Mr. Sweet guided the man away. Victor followed them. Once they were out of earshot, we started laughing.

"What was that?" Fabian asked.

"I don't think I want to know," I replied, "but Vicky was nearly bowing." I got up and leaned forward, rubbing my hands like he did. "Quite, quite fascinating." I mocked.

"Mm, Gustav would you like to see my pin collection?" Fabian imitated Victor's voice.

"Gustav, I'd like you to meet my raven, Corbiere." Mara joked.

"It's ten o'clock!" Patricia exclaimed.

"I'd like to see my face in that toilet bowl." Alfie mocked. We all did more imitations of Victor until we couldn't take it and all fell down laughing.

_~ Night ~_

"Chosen One…" a whisper echoed around my skull. My eyes flew open.

"The Cup!" I realized. I still hadn't checked on it! I snuck on my slippers and stealthily made my way into the hall.

"Must rush…" the voice whispered outside of my head now. "Chosen…" I reached for the attic door, but it opened on its own. Whatever the voice was, it wanted me in the attic.

I opened the panel. The Cup gleamed at me. "Yes!" I whispered. I picked it up and examined it. The hairs on my neck prickled and I felt a presence. I spun around and almost had a heart attack.

A few feet away stood a woman. But she wasn't like any other woman. She was covered in a black mist. She wore an Egyptian-styled dress and tiara in her hair. She was in black and white, and she terrified me.

"For long, I have waited," she said. "Like Isis waiting for Osiris. You have freed me, Chosen One." She reached out with both hands. On her palms were a type of tattoo? It was of a jackal head. They both shined brightly.

"What do you want? Who are you?" I questioned, holding the Cup close.

"The day will come when everyone will know my name." She said with pride. "Find it," her voice was full of anger and order, "Bring it. And you shall weep tears of gold."

"Find… what exactly?"

"The Mask of Anubis, child." She said, like it was weird that I didn't know. She stepped forward and I shrunk back. "Find it before anyone else."

Her face changed to a mask of rage. "Or forfeit your life."


	3. Illusions

_ALRIGHT! I am back! I don't believe I have anymore trips (glances at calendar) so I should be able to write more. I'm also writing about 2 Harry Potter stories and a Pokemon Black & White story, so my brain is pretty darn full. But you don't care about that, on with the story, Mari! Here's the next chapter, you wonderful guys, you. I've gotten it to you all as soon as I could, I thank you for your patience. Enjoy!_

**CHAPTER THREE HOUSE OF ILLUSIONS**

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I stretched my arms and slapped my alarm clock off. Huh? When did I get back to sleep? This was getting weird.

"Morning." Gran greeted. I smiled sleepily at her.

"Good morning." I replied. "I just had a weird dream…" But was it a dream? It felt so real…

"Me too." Amber said. "I was a personal shopper for Lady Gaga and she tipped me in salami." Gran and I laughed a bit. "What was yours?"

I thought for a second. Should I tell her? Forfeiting my life was pretty serious business. I couldn't risk Amber like that. "…I forgot."

I told Fabian the dream when I met up with him in the main hall before breakfast. "So," he tried to simplify, "You took the Cup downstairs after seeing this ghost or whatever?"

"And then all I can remember next was my alarm." I added. "It could have been a dream, but it felt so real."

"Chosen…" the voice of the spirit reverberated across the walls. I stiffened, looking around the hall.

"… Let's go….like, now." I suggested, walked swiftly into the dining area.

After breakfast, I put my plate in the sink. "I'm going to grab my bag and we'll walk over, m'kay?" I told Fabian, giving him a quick hug from behind. I walked up the stairs and into my room. I sighed at the mess of the sheets I left, but did nothing to fix them.

I grabbed my jacket and draped it over one arm. I picked up my schoolbag from beside my bag, but then saw a familiar piece sticking out from under the bed. I gasped as I pulled out the Cup. It brought back the bits of last night. Forfeit my life…

Rushing, I shoved the Cup into my bag and ran out of the room. Fabian was by the base of the stairs, waiting.

"It was NOT a dream!" I said as I flew down the stairs. "Look at this," I showed him the base of the Cup, covered only by a jacket I snatched earlier. "I found it under my bed!"

"Maybe you were sleepwalking." Fabian tried to rationalize.

"Sleepwalking?" I repeated with an eyebrow raised. "She said tears of gold, like in my dream with Victor and like what the doll said. Coincidence?"

"Maybe you dreamt it because you heard the doll say it?" he suggested. "I really don't want to be late–"

"Are you ready, Fabes?" Joy's voice carried down the stairs, cutting him off. I raised an eyebrow at Fabian, who looked very cute in an ashamed state. I looked at Joy, who was looking at me with a weird look. She tilted her head at me when she looked at Fabian.

"Let's all walk over together!" Fabian suggested. I smiled.

"Awesome idea! I've got loads of questions for you, Joy, since we haven't officially met before." I linked arms with her and started to walk out the house. "So, what's your favorite color? Band? I don't really have one but I'm going through a Panic! At The Disco phase. Do you like anime? I know this one where…"

_~ School ~_

"Was there any mention from Victor's doll about a Mask of Anubis?" Fabian asked me when we entered the science classroom.

"No," I shook my head in frustration. "Just tears of gold. Could they be connected?"

Before Fabian could say anything, Mr. Sweet walked in with Victor tagging along. "Before we begin Biology," he said, "I have an important announcement." The two men stood in front of the class. "We have been asked to present an official bid to host a prestigious exhibition."

"Yes," Victor added. "The Touring Treasures of Egypt." I glanced to Fabian. "It is absolutely imperative that we win."

"So, I need volunteers to help us prepare the bid." Mr. Sweet continued. Of course, Fabian and Mara immediately volunteered. But it seemed so boring…

"Mary Ann," Fabian whispered. He jerked his head towards the adults as Mr. Sweet was talking about having three. I raised my hand just as just as he picked Joy.

"Sorry!" I mouthed to Fabian.

"We make a good team, don't we, Fabes?" Joy smiled at him. "Must be all that stuff we have in common." A spark of jealousy rocked me, but I forced it down. Why should I be jealous?

"First meeting, five o'clock this afternoon," Victor told us. "Frobisher Library, thank you." He walked out of the classroom.

"Vicky definitely wants something from that exhibition," I murmured to Fabian. "I've got to get on prep squad. I'll talk to Sweetie afterschool."

_~ Afterschool ~_

"Enter." Mr. Sweet called from his Headmaster office. I opened the door.

"Can I join the teams of volunteers to help prepare for the bid, sir?" I asked straightforwardly with no preamble.

"Sure." He replied.

I sighed with disappointment. "Please, sir, I know I can– Wait, what?" I didn't expect him to say yes so quickly.

"I said, yes, Miss Norton." He replied in a calming state. "You're an excellent student with much knowledge on the Egyptian ways. And by the state of the library, we both know how much help it will require."

I blushed at the compliments. "Thank you, sir! I'll be there at five!" I raced out of the room.

_~ Five o'clock ~_

I ran down the paths on my way to the library. It took too long to put the Cup back! I blacked out again for some unknown reason. I could always use the bathroom excuse but…

I ran into Mara on our way inside the library.

"Sorry, Mr. Sweet!" we said in unison as we entered.

"If you cannot turn up on time, you may as well go now!" Victor yelled. I kept my head down. "We must win this bid! I demand total commitment!" He turned back to Mr. Sweet and there was an awkward silence.

"Wasn't it three volunteers per class?" Joy's voice rang out. I looked at her and she was looking at me. "I don't remember you volunteering, Mary Ann." I bit my lip, her tone of voice not as sweet as it appeared.

"No, neither do I." Victor agreed. "You may go, Miss Norton."

My heart pounded in my throat when Mr. Sweet reached out to me. "Mary Ann," he said in a stern tone, like he was telling me to wait. He started to murmur to Victor. I raised my shoulders to my head and waited. Then came the verdict. "It's alright, Mary Ann, you can stay."

I nodded and shot a look at Joy. What was with her?

_~ 10 Minutes Later ~_

I managed to catch Fabian alone on the second story of the library. I placed the book I was holding on the rail and brushed his shoulder with mine. "Hey," I smiled.

"Hey," he said excitedly. "Look what I managed to persuade Sweetie to lend us." He showed me a thin booklet, much like a brochure. "It contains every item in the expo, so maybe we can find what Victor's interested in."

"Cool." I replied. I flipped through the dusty book in my hands.

"Are you still carrying the Cup around?" he whispered.

"Nah, it's why I was late. It is safely back in the attic." I informed him. He flipped through his book as I flipped though mine. Overall, it was quite interesting. The Nile… a scepter… some sandals… a Mask of Anubis… types of myth–

"Whoa, wait, what?!" I whispered. I flipped back to the page. There in the corner was a black-and-white photo of a mask. But not just any mask, it was a jackal mask. "Fabian, you've got to see this." I shifted the book closer and started to read from the text. "The Mask of Anubis was a mystical mask worn by the high priest of Anubis, god of death." I felt a shiver, like something was crawling up my spine. "L-Legend has it, that when worn at the funeral of pharaohs, the Mask used to weep tears of gold." I looked over at Fabian. "Believe me now? I'm not smart enough to know all this." I got a sickening realization. "If Victor's after the tears of gold, he'll want the Mask as well."

"Chosen One…" The voice was clearer, potent. It was definitely the spirit's, and she was in the room. Shivers crawled up my back. "Chosen One!" I started to breathe faster, looking around to find her body… or the visible part of her. "Find it! Find it!"

"What is it?" Fabian asked me, worried. The spirit started to laugh. "What's wrong?"

"It's a battle against me and Victor, Fabian." I said, getting more and more anxious. "My life is in serious danger."

_~ The next morning ~_

I entered the kitchen and took some eggs out of the fridge. "Gran, eggs are a'coming." I announced to her as she entered the dining room.

"Scrambled," we said at the same time. I laughed with her. She left and Fabian walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, 'morning." He whispered. I smiled in return. "I was looking through this exhibition catalogue last night, and you will not believe what I found." He flipped through the pages and I scooted closer. He stopped on a page and I gasped.

There showed an exact match of the picture of the Mask from the book I read yesterday. "Holy smokes, that's the Mask!"

"It's a replica," Fabian informed me. "But, you'll never guess who made it." I glanced at the small info section on the page.

"Bronze replica of the golden Mask of Anubis, artist Louisa Frobisher-Smythe." I read aloud. "Sarah's mom!"

"What is that?" Victor came out of nowhere and walked in front of us.

"Uh, it's an exhibition catalogue." Fabian said truthfully. "Mr. Sweet gave it to us as research for the bid."

"Give that to me." Victor snatched it out of his hand and flipped through it. After a moment, he eyed us both and stalked out of the room with the booklet under his arm.

"Oh – I – I'll need it back!" Fabian called after him, voice cracking. He turned to me. "Oh, that was the only copy! Why did I let him take it?"

"Well, he actually took it but–"

"Your gran is right, I'm just a total pushover!" He stormed out of the kitchen.

"Whoa, what got into you, Rutter?" I commented.

_~ School ~_

I stepped out of the bathroom stall. Joy and Amber were at the sinks. Joy spoke whilst I washed my hands.

"So, Mary Ann," she said happily. "You're down to write the film script. That's kind of your thing, right?" She didn't even let me answer. "Fabes and I are director and camera operator and the camera should be arriving this evening."

"Sounds like you two will be spending a lot of time together." Amber noted.

"I just hope the camera isn't haunted." I laughed. "I saw it in a movie once." I snuck a look at Joy, who smiled in a fake way and exited the room.

"It's so obvious she likes him," Amber told me. "But the question is, do you?"

"What do you mean?" I raised an eyebrow at her and started to dry my hands.

"OK, last term you and Fabian were like best friends and this term you're like…" she motioned me to continue.

"Best friends?" I guessed. But we kissed every now and then and hugged and held hands. Normal couple stuff… right?

"You two need some serious Mabiann time." She said thoughtfully. She got a look on her face that told me she had an idea. "Leave it with me!" she said cheerfully. She practically skipped out of the bathroom.

"And now I'm scared." I joked under my breath. I turned to the mirror for the final time and gasped. Suddenly, there stood the spirit woman. She came out of nowhere so fast my heart skipped a beat or two. I wheeled around but the she wasn't behind me. I looked back to the mirror and she was gone.

"Why does life take me so seriously?!" I muttered.

"YOU HAD IT THE WHOLE TIME AND DIDN'T THINK TO TELL ME?" Victor's voice yelled, but it was muffled enough to tell me he wasn't in the room.

I remembered the tile that could come off that had a hole peering into the headmaster's office. Sibuna had used it a couple times, but I haven't yet.

I peeled off the tile and peered through the hole just as Mr. Sweet said, "It's just a catalogue that Gustav gave me and Fabian needed it to research the bid."

"BUT WHAT ABOUT MY RESEACRH?" Victor exploded, face turning a bit red. "EVERY SINGLE EXHIBIT IS LISTED IN THIS CATALOGUE, ERIC!" He threw the booklet onto Sweetie's desk.

"And the Book of Isis?" Sweetie asked nonetheless. Huh? The Book of Isis? What was that?

"Is not mentioned." Victor said, calling down a bit.

"Do we continue with the bid?"

"OF COURSE!" Victor exploded again. He took a short breath. "Of course we continue with the bid," he said in a softer tone, "it will simply be catalogued under a codename!"

I resealed the hole and took another breath. They certainly weren't up to any good, not if Victor wants this book so badly.

_~ After school, Evening ~_

After changing out of my school uniform and into jeans, a T-shirt ("My Anger Management Class Pisses Me Off"), and my llama hat (no, I haven't forgotten it!), I walked down the stairs to tell Fabian about what Victor and Sweetie were talking about. Gran was talking to him about words being something, whatever.

"Fabes," I interrupted. "I've got to talk to you." I glanced at Gran. Fabian stood up from his seat.

"And I need to talk to you, Mary Ann, sit down." Fabian said in a weird voice.

"Do as the boy says, Mary Ann." Gran agreed, tauntingly almost. I raised an eyebrow at her. I sat down anyways.

"OK, so Sweetie's saying–"

"Nope!" Fabian motioned for me to stop. "Tell me later."

"Huh?" Since when did he not want to hear about important stuff like some book? OK, when I put it like that–

"Uh, I want to read you something first," he said, looking at a piece of paper in his hand.

"Can that wait? This is," I glanced around and whispered, "life and death." A weird feeling crawled up my spine.

"Mary Ann, I am going to read you this and you are going to listen. Now sit." He placed a hand on my shoulder and pushed me a little to sit down. Something was up with him…

"What is up with you?" I snapped, harsher than I meant it to be. A weird anger filled me up and I stormed out of the room. The weird anger didn't leave until I was in my room, laying on my bed and staring at the ceiling. I frowned and got dressed in my pajamas.

Well, that was rather odd. I wasn't too mad, certainly not mad enough to leave the room so abruptly. And why was Fabian acting so weirdly? Was he possessed? Did the spirit possess him?!

**The door opened just as I sat down. Fabian walked in. "Why are you hiding from me?" he asked.**

**"Hmm? Hiding? I'm not hiding." I told him. "Listen, Victor's after a book. It's called the Book of Isis–"**

**"You can't ignore me forever, Mary Ann." He interrupted angrily.**

**"I'm not ignoring you." I told him, standing up. "I just–"**

**He suddenly grabbed my arm, mid-bicep. His grip was really hard, which surprised me. "I said, you can't ignore me forever." His voice started to echo. I squirmed and looked at his grip on my arm. Suddenly, his hand grew black, and then the rest of the skin on his arm.**

**And then I realized his skin wasn't turning black. It was turning white, with a wispy essence of darkness emanating from it. Startled, I looked back at his face and nearly had another heart attack.**

**It wasn't Fabian anymore. It was the spirit. I jumped back, nearly tripping over my feet, but her grip didn't falter. She glared at me.**

**"The Mask is close, I feel it!" she persisted. "Ask the one who knows!"**


	4. Brands

_Another chapter's up, guys! Thanks for all the reviews and stuff, it really keeps me going. I don't think I've ever mentioned this, but if you have any criticism, any at all, don't hesitate to tell me. I'm a big girl, I can handle it. It might even make the story better. However, let me tell you now, if you go on flaming my story, I'm going to use your flames to roast __marshmallows and then stick 'em to your head. But yeah, criticism is welcomed, and so are any questions you might have (though I refuse to give out certain spoilers)! Enjoy the chapter!_

**CHAPTER FOUR HOUSE OF BRANDS**

I woke up with a strangled yelp. A thick coat of saliva was in my mouth, so the yelp was muffled a bit. A searing pain struck my arm, right where the spirit had grabbed me. I rolled up my sleeve and stifled a cry.

There on my skin was a glowing red mark. It was a jackal head. I swiped at it, but it didn't do anything. The glowing died down to make it a black tattoo. I started to hyperventilate, struggling to keep calm.

_~ School ~_

I told Fabian about dream. "It felt so-o-o-o real! You walked in, and I thought we were going to talk about yesterday–"

"Y-Yeah, I'm really sorry about that." He said. "Look, I got some bad advice and what I really wanted to tell you–"

"But it wasn't you." I interrupted, needing to tell someone. "Well, it looked like you but then you turned into the spirit! She grabbed my arm and… gave me this…" I rolled up my sleeve to show the jackal tattoo.

Fabian held my arm gently, much nicer than in the creepy dream. "What is that?"

"She told me to ask the one who knows." I told him.

"Ah, you two!" Victor came down the hall at us. I yanked my sleeve back down. "What is that on your arm, please, Miss Norton? Roll up your sleeve."

"H-Huh?"

"Roll up your sleeve." He instructed.

Reluctantly, I showed him the mark/tattoo/whatever. Immediately, I regretted it. There was a weird look in his eyes, and I thought I almost saw pity. "I drew it with marker," I lied quickly. "It'll wash off."

"I hope for your sake that it does." He told me, his tone of voice just sharper from soft. "Don't let me see it again." He brushed past us.

"What if… he's the one who knows?" I whispered to Fabian.

"We can't ask him." Fabian replied in disappointment. "OK, I have an idea."

_~ Lunch ~_

Fabian's plan was to actually go visit his uncle at his antique shop. Uncle Aide had helped us last term with finish a phonograph as well as providing a book that told us about the myths of the Cup of Ankh.

"Uncle Aide?" Fabian called as we entered the store. "Hello? Hello?" Moving past the old furniture, we made it to the front desk. But the man that sat at the desk wasn't Uncle Aide. He wore a tan suit. He had graying black hair, tanned skin, and dark eyes.

"Well look who's here!" the man exclaimed, standing up.

"Jasper!" Fabian cried. They shook hands. "I thought you were in Peru! Where's Uncle Aide?"

"Egypt." Jasper explained. "Archaeological dig. I'm shop-sitting as a favor."

"Mary Ann, this is Jasper Choudhary, my godfather." Fabian introduced. I smiled and shook his hand. "If anyone is going to know about this weird stuff, it's him. A total Egypt geek."

"Like you're one to talk." I teased.

"Well, this geek has dusted enough clutter for one day." Jasper said. "Weird stuff, please."

"Have you heard of the Mask of Anubis?" Fabian asked.

"Funny you should ask that," his godfather said. He flipped through a booklet… just like the one for the exhibition.

"The real one." I specified. "Like, where it could be?"

"Well, no one knows." He said. "There are theories but now most think it was only a myth."

"Tell him about the dreams, Mary Ann." Fabian took my arm and the sleeve rolled up high enough to reveal the tattoo. I clenched my jaw as Jasper's dropped, eyes going wide.

"The Mark of Anubis!" he exclaimed, the booklet falling out of his hands.

"You know this thing?" I questioned, fingering the outline of the mark. "W-What is it?"

"Sit down… please." Jasper stammered. He sank back into his chair. I pulled up a nearby one and sat in it, Fabian sitting on its armrest. "What happened?" I told him about the dreams and the spirit. Jasper nodded and said, "Legend suggests that the god Anubis gives the mark as a curse to those who wronged him."

"Curse?" I repeated bluntly.

"But the spirit wasn't Anubis." Fabian said in confusion. "It was a woman." If Anubis had _serious_ identity issues, then maybe this would all make sense...

"And that's the bit I don't get. Leave it with me, I'll ask around my Internet buddies."

"Can we keep this?" Fabian asked him, holding up the catalogue for the exhibition. Jasper nodded.

"I am surrounded by geeks!" I joked, clutching my head. They both shared a laugh.

_~ Back at school ~_

"So," Fabian said in a flirty tone as we walked into class. "How about I make up for last night by taking you out for on that date we never get around to?"

"Sounds lovely." I smiled.

"Great."

I sat down and then remembered something. "Aw man!" I scowled. "I'm having dinner with Gran tonight since it's her last night. Do you want to come?"

"No, no it's OK." Fabian understood. "I need to work on the bid anyway and we have to win this exhibition. Whatever Victor is after, it's probably important for us too."

"The Book of Isis!" I realized. I still hadn't told him about it! "Vicky's looking for it."

"The Book of Isis?" he repeated.

"I overheard him talking about it with Sweetie. The secrets of the tears of gold and Elixir are in the book."

"The book of what?" Amber asked as she walked up to us. "And why's Victor looking for it?" I shared a panicked look with Fabian. "I know you two snuck off somewhere at lunchtime. Spill it." Fabian and I remained silent. "If it's Sibuna related I need to know."

"OK!" Mrs. Andrews saved our behinds. "Places, everyone, please!" Fabian sat down next to me and Amber stalked off to her seat.

_~ Evening ~_

Gran set her fork down. She looked a bit tired.

I said worriedly, "Are you sure you should be traveling, Gran? You did just get out of the hospital last year–"

"I'll be fine," she told me, rolling her eyes at my concern. "It's just these migraines."

"Woman of steel, that's what you are." I accused with a smile.

"No, Joy!" Fabian came walking into the living area of the room backwards. Joy followed closely behind, a video camera in her hand. "How many times do I have to tell you, me in a toga will not help us win the bid!" He bumped into a chair.

"But Victor told us to put out all the stops…" She couldn't continue because they were both laughing so much. I hated the spark of jealousy that lit in my chest, so I sipped my water. They finally noticed us and went completely silent.

"Sorry." They apologized. Joy slapped the camera shut. They hurried out of the room. Fabian shot me a thumbs-up and a cute smile. A grin tugged on my lips as I picked up some pasta with my fork.

"That boy's a keeper." Gran told me. "And he really likes you. There's a haiku with your name on it out there." She chuckled at an inside joke. After a pause, she whispered, "Watch the timepiece, Mary Ann."

"Hmm? What was that?" I asked.

"There's a haiku with your name on it." She repeated.

"No, after that."

"I didn't say anything after that." She told me.

"Watch the timepiece!" the voice whispered again.

"Are you OK, hon?" she asked. I faked a smile.

"Of course." She frowned a bit, but didn't say anything. She knew when I was lying. So many times I lied to people, hiding my emotions. They hated me because my parents were murdered in an armed robbery and the only one who ever believed me the entire time was Gran (and the police, but they don't count). "I love you, Gran."

"Love you too, hon."

_~ Night ~_

Gran was in the shower, so it was just Amber and me. "Joy and Fabian interrupted our dinner, and Joy seemed quite happy about it." I said, getting Amber to talk to me because she seemingly wasn't.

"Uh oh." Amber frowned. I felt a spark of familiar annoyance. And a bit hurt, like when I first realized there was a history between Fabian and Joy. Then remembering that history…

"Why am I feeling so weird?" I complained. I screamed into a pillow. "I know Fabian likes me, so why should I feel jealous? Maybe it's this stupid cursey spirit, ya know?" Amber turned to me in an annoyed state. She crossed her arms. I realized that I just told her about the spirit. Oh no.

"A cursey spirit?" she repeated. When I remained silent, she gave me a look. "I knew there was stuff you weren't telling me!" She walked over and sat on the bed with me. "Is it to do with the Cup? When it glowed that time? Or our favorite, cluey, old lady?"

"Sarah is resting now." I said sadly, remembering the sweet old lady. She died last term and I sent her spirit to rest when I resurrected the Cup. "She's done helping."

"Mary Ann, look! The dollhouse!" Amber exclaimed. I looked over to it at the foot of her bed. The windows were lit up, just like in my dream! We walked over to it. The chimney started to smoke.

Amber swiped at the smoke, but it wouldn't go away. "Why is it doing that?" she asked. "Does it have batteries?"

A knock came at the door. Instinctively, I stepped in front of the dollhouse. "Who is it?" I called.

"Fabian." He replied. I sighed a bit.

"Come in." I said.

He walked in smiling, "Hey, how–" He saw the dollhouse. "What is it doing?!" He shut and locked the door behind him. I examined the dollhouse and suddenly noticed something.

"Hey, look!" I fingered a part by the bottom of the house. It was scratched up and someone had wrote 'Sarah' in pen. "This was… Sarah's…"

"Sibuna." Amber called out, doing the gesture. We did the same.

"It's ten o'clock!" Victor's voice called from outside the door.

"Victor." I panicked. He went on with the speech of having five minutes. "We've got to hide it!" Amber swiped at the smoke and Fabian touched it.

He yelled as he drew back, clutching his hand. "It's hot!"

A knock came at the door. "Is there a boy in there?" Victor asked through the door. I blew at the smoke, but nothing happened. Panicked, I gestured to Amber's robe. She grabbed it and we set it over the dollhouse as Victor knocked on the door.

The three of us lined up in front of the dollhouse just as he entered the room.

"You are well aware of the rules, Mr. Rutter!" Victor scolded. "To your room immediately!" Fabian left in a rush. "Where is that smoke coming from?" He looked around the room. "Hmm? Well?"

Just in time, Gran walked into the room. "Oh!" She exclaimed when she saw Victor. She glanced at her watch. "Did I miss curfew again? Please don't put me in detention." She joked. Victor scowled at me and left the room. Once he was gone, I started to laugh.

I uncovered the dollhouse. The lights in the windows were suddenly off and the smoking stopped. "That's weird." I whispered to Amber. She nodded.

_~ Morning ~_

"How're the migraines?" I asked Gran in the morning. Fabian helped zip the bag because we couldn't. Gran was leaving, which made me feel sadder than I wanted to.

"Ah, I'm fine!" she brushed off. "I'm off to London!" I gave her a hug.

"Finally!" Fabian exclaimed, hands in the air in accomplishment. I rolled my eyes playfully at him. "Oh no, I-I finally got this shut." I searched around the room in case Gran forgot anything. Wouldn't want her to miss something and then need it in an emergency later. Paranoia was getting the better of me.

_~ School ~_

"I feel like the dollhouse is a key…" I confided in Fabian as we walked down the hall. "It's making a message when it lights up."

"Where to find the Mask?" Fabian suggested.

"Perhaps, but Jasper said the Mask doesn't exist. So I should be safe… but why don't I feel safe?" We entered the classroom and went to our seats.

"I'm sure it's nothing." Fabian assured me.

"Lucky you," I teased. "You get a paranoid girlfriend."

"And I love her all the same." He told me. I blushed and smiled. Mrs. Andrews walked in and started to talk.

"Oh, and Joy, while I remember, I brought that CD I mentioned for the beginning of your film." Reminds me… I should get started on that… "Collect it at the end of class." Joy turned around to face us. Well, Fabian.

"Do you want to listen to it tonight, yeah?" she said with a wink. Fabian glanced at me.

"Yeah, yeah, OK." He replied.

"It's a date." Joy said cheerfully.

"I never understood that saying." I commented thoughtfully. "Maybe the first people who used it were working during their date? And then their friends continued to tease them about it, and it caught on like that?" Fabian held my hand and rolled his eyes.

_~ Break ~_

"Sarah's mother made the replica," Fabian said thoughtfully. We sat in the student lounge. "She must have seen the original at some point, right?" He flipped through the exhibition catalogue.

"Great minds think alike." I said. "My thoughts exactly. Maybe the Frobisher-Smythes brought back more than just the Cup when they were in Egypt."

"Hi guys!" Amber said cheerily. She sat down. "What's the gosp? Sibuna me."

"Em," Fabian stammered. "I was just saying that now Mary Ann's gran's gone, maybe me and Mary Ann could go on that date?"

"About time, too!" Amber said.

"How about tonight?" I teased. He smiled at me. "Before, or after, your date with Joy?"

"Shut up." Amber looked at Fabian.

"No, you're just being silly!" Fabian protested. "We're only meeting to discuss–"

"The film, I know." I smiled to let him know I was teasing.

"Ugh, Mary Ann, don't scare me like that!" he sighed. "I thought you were actually mad!"

I kissed my finger and placed it to his lips. "I love you." I said in a babyish voice. The two of them laughed.

_~ Night ~_

**I giggled as I stared up at the clouds. It was so sunny! I reached up with my small, 4 year-old hands and grabbed at the white puffs of water. I heard a footstep and turned my head. There stood an old woman, dressed in a white nightgown. She looked familiar, but I couldn't quite remember how.**

**"Wake up, Mary Ann." She spoke, but it wasn't her voice. It was… mine? It sounded like mine, but it was older and more mature. "Wake up!"**

My eyes shot open. The first thing I noticed was that dollhouse was lit again. I threw off the covers and ran to it. "Where?" I whispered, not to wake Amber. "And what is it? I don't understand!"

Just below the front steps of the dollhouse, a compartment shot open. I jumped a bit in surprise. There was a paper inside! I picked up. "Oh, thank you. Thank you… Sarah." I didn't know why I said Sarah, but it came out.

The lights in the dollhouse went out.


	5. Heartbreak

_I apologize for the long wait! This chapter goes against all I ship (cough cough FABINA cough cough). But the story must go on, and I can't deprive you of fanfiction... Enjoy._

**CHAPTER FIVE HOUSE OF HEARTBREAK**

"There's a drawer hidden at the bottom of the dollhouse." I told Fabian after breakfast. The rest of the house had already for school, so it was just the two of us at the table. I had unfolded the paper that I got from the drawer last night. "It looks like a series of tunnels." There were lots of columns in the formation of passages. Plus, there were icons every now and then. "Plus there are the Egyptian symbols."

"That's the jackal mark." Fabian noticed, pointing to it on the map. "The Mark of Anubis."

"The Mask could be there, don't you think?" I smiled, not noticing it before. I looked at him, but he seemed… weird. He wasn't smiling even a little. In fact, he looked a bit sick. "Are you OK?"

"Uh." He blinked. "Mary Ann, I dreamt about her last night. The spirit." I paled, feeling my gorge rise. Oh dear gods if Fabian was cursed as well–

"What did she say?" I asked. "Did she touch you at all? DoyouhavetheMark?" I started flipping out, patting his arms like I was going to feel it. "Oh my Anubis, this is all because of me, oh gods oh gods oh–"

"It's not your fault," he told me, "Look, I probably only dreamt about her because we talked about her so much." He placed a hand on my elbow in a comforting way. I looked in his eyes and I know this sounds cheesy but I remembered all the reasons I fell in love with him again.

"She didn't touch you?" I managed to squeak. If I lost him, or was losing him…

"No," he told me. I let out a breath of relief, hand on my chest.

"Ya should've started with that. Ha ha… ha… ha…" I breathed again, trailing off my laugh and staring at the map.

"So, because you found the map under the dollhouse," Fabian went on, "you think that the Mask…"

"…Yeah, it's hidden under the house."

"Do you think–"

"Is that what I think it is?" Amber asked, suddenly next to us.

"Um, a map? Yeah." Fabian hurriedly put it away.

"OK, I was going to say love letter, but map's OK I guess." She took it from him. One look at it and she was grinning. "Especially when it's a treasure map, Sibuna!"

"Sibu-what?" Victor walked into the room. I snatched the map from Amber so quickly it was like I was a ninja.

"She said 'Sibu? Yah.' I thinking of a story and I was wonder what to name the character and–"

"Ah," He gave me the hand. "I really don't care. Off to school, all of you, it's late."

"Oh, e-em, Victor?" Fabian grabbed his bag. "We're recording the narration for the school film, and we think you'd be perfect." I raised an eyebrow at him. Victor also looked at him. "I mean, with your commanding voice and the encyclopedic knowledge of the school."

"Well," Victor mused for a second. "I do fulfill all those criteria, I suppose. Very well, if you insist."

"Great. I'll record you this lunchtime." Fabian planned. Victor nodded and left the room.

"Way to go, Sibu." Amber teased, giving me a playful punch in the arm. I entered the hall with Fabian to find Victor making weird voice noises as he trudged up stairs. I laughed with him.

"Nice choice with Victor as voice-over." I complimented.

"Ah, while I'm recording Victor at lunch, you can check out the cellar." Fabian said.

"The cellar?" Amber repeated loudly. I shushed her.

"We think the map Mary Ann found in the dollhouse is–"

"Why are you three still here?" Victor interrupted Fabian from upstairs. We swiftly left.

_~ Lunchtime ~_

I opened the oven door that led to the cellar with my locket. It swung open and I glanced back at Amber.

"Pampered ladies first?" I offered.

"No, after you." she said immediately. I got on my hands and knees and started to crawl when she continued. "And I've decided you and Fabian are coming on a double date this evening with Alfie and I." I turned sharply, hitting my head on the side of the passageway.

Moaning, I crawled back out and looked at her. "Evening, huh?"

"Leave it any longer and you guys really will be on Friend Status." She informed me. I pursed my lips and crawled down into the cellar. Really? Friend Status? I guess three months really was a long time for a first date… We didn't kiss very often, and when we did it was usually just a peck on the lips. And sure, we teased/flirted and held hands, but was that enough?

I stopped. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course." she said immediately. That's what I loved about Amber; you could trust her with anything.

I hesitated, though, to form the question properly in my mind. "How do you know when you're with the one that you're going to be with forever?"

Amber thought about it. "I don't think you know, not at first anyway. And I think it takes a couple tries to get it right. You'd have to be pretty lucky to get it right on the first try."

My lips curled up to a nervous smile, even if she couldn't see it. I continued onward. The first thing I noticed in the cellar was the test tubes and beakers. Amber and I walked up to a table, which was covered in multi-colored liquids in beakers.

"Ugh, so Vicky is still going on about this habit." I picked up a test tube and set it back down, lips curling in disgust. Amber made a 'gross!' squeak. I took out the map. My eyes glazed around it until I found what I was looking for. "OK, if the cellar's here–" I pointed to a small room by the edge of the map, "–then there's another room right around… here." I twisted to my left and looked up from the map to get a view of the shelved wall. I sighed with a growing anxiety.

"Mary Ann, your locket." Amber pointed out. I picked it up, and sure enough it was glowing red.

"It must be something about the shelves…" I murmured, stepping up to them. My eyes flickered to the top, where the shelves met the wall. There was a borderline decorating it and it had snakes in a pattern. A light glowed across them, the same color as the locket's. "The snakes."

"Oh, those are snakes." Amber said, "I thought they were 8s."

"Genius, Ambs," I commented. Four of the snakes/eights looked odd, like they moved or something.

"A genius with perfect hair. Double threat."

I reached up to the four snake/eights. When I pushed one up, it moved to show the number 9 in black print, and then a zero when I pushed it further. "It's some kind of… Victorian lock or something. But what could be the combination?"

"Mm, I'm sorry, I must have left my book on secret Victorian codes upstairs." Amber said sarcastically.

"Let's brainstorm." I said. "People usually have easy-to-remember codes. Like a birthday…" I smiled. "Sarah's birthday." I reached up and pushed the snake/eights (let's call them snakes). 1915. I stepped back and waited.

Nothing happened. "OK, not Sarah's birthday."

"I don't mean to rush you, Mary Ann." Amber said, looking at her watch. "But we were meant to be a school five minutes ago."

"More combos," I told her. I reached back to the snakes and pushed them to their original spot. "We'll come back with more combinations later."

_~ Back at school ~_

I brainstormed a bit with Fabian after class. "We've got both of Sarah's parent's birthdays. Maybe 1922 as well, since loads of crap happened that year." I suggested to him as he wrote them down.

"Let's get down there and try them out," he said, "while Trudy and Victor are still at the library." We got up and picked up our bags when Amber came into the room.

"OK, school's out." She said, "Double date time!" I smacked my forehead, realizing I still hadn't talked about it with Fabian.

"Date?" he repeated.

"Er, yeah." I laughed nervously. "I forgot to tell you."

"Uh, what about the…" He gestured to the notebook where he had the codes written down.

"Fabian," Amber said in an impatient tone, "go change. Try and look a little bit hip. Then you can set up the picnic with Alfie." Fabian started to leave when she turned to me. "As for you, you're coming with me."

"Help me!" I called playfully after Fabian.

_~ At the house, just before date ~_

"Wow… I almost don't even recognize myself!" I exclaimed as I looked in the mirror. I wore a dark grey sweater with the neck opened wide across my shoulders. I had a black tank top underneath to cover my bra straps and neck area (other than my locket). On my legs were a pair of black skinny jeans and on my feet were short high heel sandals. Cozy, yet stylish. My hair was curled to the max, cascading in ringlets across my back and around my face. My bangs were left straight and side-swept. Amber decorated my face with some blush, eye shadow, black eye liner, and lip-gloss. Overall, I looked amazing.

"What do you think?" She asked excitedly. She herself looked gorgeous. Her hair was braided over one shoulder. She had a tank top that was light pink under a purple-and-pink jacket. She wore a necklace made of pearls. She had eyeliner, lip-gloss, eye shadow, lipstick, and mascara. Her pants were a pair of dark jean shorts.

"I'm down for this." I smiled at her through the mirror.

"Let me finish your hair!" She took me to her mirror. "So, are you nervous? First date, and all." She asked while moving locks of hair every now and then.

"Wah, no." I laughed, covering up the fact I was more than nervous. "Nervous? No way. He's my best friend."

"That's what I used to say to Alfie," she sighed, "every time I turned him down." The fake smile on my face faded.

"Why?"

"Because 'BF' has to stand for 'best friend' or 'boyfriend'. BF, BF. It's just bad grammar."

"Really?" I said in a 'you serious?' tone.

"Yuh-huh. It's science." She pushed some hair over my shoulder. "OK, we're ready!"

I smiled slightly. And she practically dragged me to where the date was held as I got lost in thought.

Did this mean I had to stop being best friends with Fabian, and be more boyfriend-girlfriend? We were really close. I should talk to him about it later…

Alfie and Fabian were sitting at the picnic blanket by a tree not too far from the house. It looked so cute… Immediately, Amber started criticizing Alfie about his outfit choice. He wore dark blues, and no pink, which seemed to piss of Amber.

Fabian looked adorable. He wore black Converse and black jeans. His shirt was striped purple and gray, and was under a beige jacket.

He smiled when he saw us and I blushed. Alfie swiftly left to "get some pink". Which definitely made me scared.

"Hey." Fabian greeted, standing up. "You look nice."

"Nice?" Amber repeated, like in disbelief. "Is that the best you can do?" Not letting him answer, "Fabian, open the refreshments. Mary Ann, sit next to me." The two of them sat down and so did I. "Perfect, I knew this was a good idea!" Fabian handed me a soda. I took it with a bright smile and picked up a Jelly Baby (which was pretty much just gummies in the shape of people). Amber thought she heard something as Fabian passed her a soda.

Honk, honk!

"This matches you outfit, Amber!" Alfie called, "Fancy a ride?" I turned and saw him on a… tractor? A pink tractor? I thought it was amusing, and started to laugh.

Amber… didn't enjoy his humor as much. "ALFIE LEWIS, TURN THAT ENGINE OFF!" She screamed over the loud noise, standing up. I stood as well, and so did Fabian.

"I can't!" he replied, panicking. "The key's jammed! The wheel's jammed too!"

"Alfie, stop it right now!" Amber begged. I noticed he was in direct course for the picnic.

"Alfie!" I cried. "You've got to move course!" But the wheel was jammed. Like an awesome-sauce ninja, I snatched a random plate of sweets (which turned out to be donuts, yum) out of the way just as the tractor started to destroy everything.

"It's ruined!" Amber cried.

"Ouch!" I winced as Alfie drove into a wall. He detangled a branch from himself and made his way back to us.

"It's really ruined." Amber said, looking back at the picnic set up.

"Ready?" I leaned over and giggled to Fabian.

"Good idea." He left the soda can in his hand on the grass and we started to run back to the house.

"Wait, where are you going, what about the date?" Amber yelled after us. I just giggled, laughter bubbling inside me. "You two are beyond help!"

Fabian started laughing with me as we continued to run. Then I realized I still had the plate of donuts in my hand. "Care for one?" I offered. He shook his head, vocals already too busy laughing.

_~ Down in the cellar ~_

"It doesn't work." Fabian announced, folding up the paper as we failed with the last combination. He walked towards the table of tests, not really looking at me. I leaned against the slab of wall beside the shelf.

"Well, I'm stumped." I sighed. "What could the stupid combo be?" I dropped the locket under my shirt and heard Fabian sigh. "You didn't want to go on the double date… did you?" He turned back to me.

"Oh, no, yeah, I did–"

"It's OK," I interrupted. "Neither did I." Fabian gave me that cute smile, like he was embarrassed. "I was… talking with Amber. Like, that's it's OK for guys and girls to be friends."

"Oh yeah?"

"And I told her that you are my best friend, which is so, so special to me. And I want to protect that…"

"Yeah, no, right."

I gave a small laugh. "This whole dating thing is so puzzling–"

"So we were better off." He interrupted. "Before."

"Before?" I repeated, getting confused.

"When we were just… friends."

"Wh… Well, is that what you want? What're you saying?" I walked next to him so we were closer to each other. Was he… breaking up with me?

"No, no, you're right. I'm hopeless."

"I wasn't saying that, we're–"

"Best friends." He concluded. "I know, I get that now. I was wrong… Back to the Buddy Bench." He spoke with a sad smile, and my heart was splintering, cracks spreading out.

"Huh?"

"Friends it is." He stuck a hand out, that sad puppy smile still on his face. The cracks were connecting…

"Yeah…" I took his hand and shook, the agreement made. My heart shattered.

As if to make the moment feel any worse, Victor came trudging down the stairs. "Who's down there? What's going on?" Fabian shoved the numbers back to the snakes on the shelf border, but Victor saw him as he faced away. "What's so interesting over there? Move away from that alcove." When we didn't budge, "Move, I say!"

We didn't do anything. He tried a different approach. "How did you get down here?"

"VICTOR!" Amber saved our asses, bounding down the cellar steps. "Victor! There's a weasel in the heating vent!"

"There's what?"

Amber waved her arms around desperately. "Hurry, it's an emergency!" Victor glanced at us once again before racing upstairs. Amber flashed a smile at us. If only she knew…

Fabian fixed the last of the numbers and we escaped to the main floor.

"–Wasting my time!" I heard Victor say as we made our way into the hall.

"I definitely smelled burnt weasel!" Amber argued. I tried to run upstairs, feeling miserable and wanting to die from embarrassment and heartbreak, but Victor stopped me when I reached the third step.

"Not so fast!" I stopped and flinched. Just let me wallow up under the covers, would you? "Come." I went back down to the rest of them. "What were you doing in the cellar?"

"Just remembering all the fun times down there from last year." I snapped sarcastically.

"Quite the comedian, aren't you, Miss Norton?" he mused. Not taking his gaze away from me, he shoved a toothbrush at Amber. "I want to see me face reflected in those toilet bowls." He finally looked away from me and moved onto Fabian. Victor went back down into the cellar.

I ran up into my room before they could say a word.

_~ The next morning ~_

I played with my cereal, swishing it around in the milk, but not eating it. I didn't get a wink of sleep last night, and now all I wanted was to sleep. No, I wasn't bawling my eyes out. I was replaying the scene down in the cellar over and over in my head, trying to figure out what went wrong and what I should've said.

"Alright, everyone, today's the big bid!" Joy announced as she entered the room. "Fabian, film finished? Mara, speech learned?"

"Yeah." Fabian said absentmindedly.

"What?" Mara turned to Joy, not even paying attention before. "Oh, yeah."

"Excellent." I could hear the smile in her voice. "And we expect everyone to be there, giving their full support. That means you too, Jerome."

"OK, so back to actual important stuff," Amber said. "Mary Ann, Fabian, we need to reschedule your date." My heart fell into my stomach and I realized that Amber didn't know that we broke up.

"Oh… Amber… we…" I trailed off, swishing the cereal in the milk again.

"We're not actually doing dates anymore, Amber." Fabian finished.

I hated the awkward silence that spread across the table. I wanted someone to start yelling, or just talking. I _needed_ someone to stop paying attention to me. But no one did so. And I hated the look on Amber's face.

"THEY'VE SPLIT UP!" Jerome suddenly yelled. He laughed. "No. Seriously."

"What?" Amber said, devastated. "No way. This is all my fault, isn't it! Me and double date gate!"

"No!" I protested. "No, Ambs… It's not you, it's… I guess it was just us."

"It's all your fault, Alfie!" she suddenly accused. She stormed out of the room, Alfie closely following.

I glanced over at Patricia, who was sending me a sympathetic look, and my eyes immediately went to Joy from there. She didn't look sad, or happy, or anything. Emotions masked well. I wish I could mask my emotions like that, but with everyone staring and full of pity, it was too much like what happened with my parents and hurt almost just the same–

I pushed my chair back, making it screech in the process, and stormed out of the room.

_~ TIME WARP ~_

I helped restack some books on a shelf before the bid. "Are we all ready?" I heard Victor say across the room. "Let's hurry along, please, Mr. Ziestack is already here!"

I pursed my lips and crossed the room to where the other students were.

"LOVE WILL OVERCOME!" Alfie suddenly yelled, and I knew the sound was via megaphone. Everyone looked up to see him leaning over the railing, dressed as… a pharaoh? And he was, in fact, yelling via megaphone.

"Alfie!" I moaned. "What're you doing?"

"Lewis, come down here! We're about to start the bid!" Victor called.

"Not until King Tut gets his queen!" He replied. "I ticked every box! And there's a glittery check book in her locker which I'm pretty sure is legally binding!"

"Someone's gone crazy." I murmured.

"Alfie's making a stand!" he yelled.

"Someone, go get Amber, quick!" Joy ordered. Fabian made his way to the door. "And stall Mr. Sweet," she added.

"OK, Alfie?" Patricia said up to him, "Don't be silly. Just come down."

"Not until I–" He switched on the megaphone. "Not until I get what's mine!"

A few minutes later, Amber came. She, along with Victor, went to Alfie. And it turned out he handcuffed his leg to a pole in the railing.

"Hand over the key." Victor ordered, hand out. "Now."

"I swallowed it." Alfie replied. Victor said something too low for me to hear. He came bearing down and left for a moment. Amber and Alfie had a chat. Victor came back with a toolbox, just as Amber was uncuffing Alfie.

Plop!

"No, no, no!" Joy cried. Crap! The key fell into a pitcher of lemonade!

"Sorry!" Amber squeaked.

"This way, Mr. Ziestack." Fabian suddenly entered the room. The man from earlier came in. Amber threw a cover of Alfie to shield him from sight. Victor came down and I tried not to look up.

The adults greeted. Some chairs were set up and the presentation started. "Uh, first," Mr. Sweet said into the microphone, "A warm welcome to Mr. Gustav Ziestack." We all applauded. "It's a really privilege…"

I looked around the room, but I couldn't find Mara. She was presenting soon, so where was she?

"I'm now going to hand over to Miss Mara Jeffray, who will be giving our opening address." Joy rushed to the microphone, having been giving a shove from Fabian. What was going on?

She smiled sheepishly at the crowd and thanked Mr. Sweet. Adjusting the mic to her height, she stared at her purple clipboard. She didn't say anything, but then suddenly looked back at the crowd. She took a breath and started.

"Sometimes, you have to wait a really long time for good things to come along, but they're always worth the wait. This library has been closed for ages, waiting for something to give it purpose and meaning."

"She's doing really good." Fabian whispered to me. I nodded. She was totally winging it, and she was doing amazing.

"And that something is the Treasures of Egypt exhibition. Welcome to the Frobisher Library, Mr. Ziestack."

"OW! OH GROSS! FLEAS!" Alfie suddenly yelled, the cover falling off and revealing him. The cover fell over the railing and… right onto Mr. Sweet! I stifled a giggle, but Jerome full on laughed.

Patricia, to save the day, walked in front of the crowd. "Our school has many links to Egypt's past," she randomly rambled. "And here is King Tutankhamen, chained, to our library. A symbol to those many links." Alfie, going along, did the stereotypical Egypt dance. I gave Patricia the thumbs up.

"Oh yes," Joy went on as Patricia became one with the crowd. "Links to Egypt's past are very strong. And this is why. Enjoy the film." We clapped as she stepped down. The lights dimmed and the film started.

Victor's voice carried on about the past of the estate. I let his voice zone out; I knew the script by heart, I did write it. I suddenly realized something.

"Fabian," I whispered, "What if 1890 is the combination?" The estate was established in 1890, so it could work…

Before he could reply, the film ended and everyone clapped. Gustav went up to the mic.

"Thank you," he said, "for your warm welcome. This is the third and final bid I've seen this week and certainly… the most original. And the strongest."

"So… do we get the exhibition?" Victor asked the big question.

After a moment of thought, Gustav replied, "Yes."

We exploded in cheer. Yes, we got it! I smiled and clapped. Fabian enveloped me in a hug. My heart still did little flips, but I hugged him back. But just as quickly, he was torn away from my grasp and into a hug from Joy.

I frowned a bit and Fabian's sleeve lifted a bit and then I saw it.

The Mark of Anubis.

He was marked. He lied to me. The spirit did touch him… and he lied about it.

I gasped and in the split second that Joy left go of him to hug Patricia, I grabbed his arm. "You had the Mark?!" I ran my thumb over it. "And you lied?" He yanked his arm back and glanced around.

He tried to walk past me but I grabbed his arm and we spun around and I heard a laugh and froze. In the reflection of a glass, I saw the spirit. She was cackling at me, at the situation I was in. She cursed me, and then Fabian. She was cracking up about the fear that must have shown in my eyes.

I opened my mouth to scream.


	6. Departures

_Here's the next chapter after leaving you with Mabiann's breakup! School's starting in tomorrow, so updates are going to be limited a lot. Sorry 'bout this! I'll do my best to update at least once a week. And, hey! The first chapter of **Mysteries of Anubis** has gotten a thousand views! How cool is that?_

**CHAPTER SIX HOUSE OF DEPARTURES**

I clamped a hand over my mouth, but not after the first note of a shriek escaped. And everyone heard, and everyone turned to look at me.

Hand still over my mouth, I ran out of the library.

I ran and ran until my legs couldn't take it. My knees buckled and I was on my hands and knees on the grass. My chest heaved.

Fabian was cursed as well. Who was next, Amber? Would she lie about it as well?

"Mary, are you OK?" Amber's, speak of the perky devil, voice filled my ears. "Where are you? What happened?"

"Here!" I managed to call out hoarsely.

"Oh, there you are!" she stood in front of me, so I was practically breathing all over her shoes. "Are you alright?"

"No." I replied. I stopped breathing for a second to calm down. "I definitely am not." I moved so I was sitting down. Amber sat next to me.

"OK, you _have_ to tell me now. And I mean, tell me _everything_." She said seriously. I nodded, seeing no other option.

"I'll need Fabian–" my voice broke when I said his name, "–to help explain. And we might know the combination, so we should go into the cellar." She nodded in understanding. "Can you… can you get him? And meet me in the cellar? I'll leave the oven open."

"Alright. Back in two sec." We both got up and went in the opposite directions.

After a few minutes, Amber and Fabian were in the cellar with me. A look passed between him and me, and the message got across. We stood in front of Amber. I rolled up my sleeve and showed her the Mark. Fabian did the same.

"Ouch. Matching tattoos right before you split up?" she commented.

"It's not a tattoo." I corrected. "It's called the Mark of Anubis. It means we have to find the Mask of Anubis for some Egyptian spirit lady."

"So far, so Sibuna." She nodded.

"And if we don't find it, we have to forfeit our lives." I finished.

"Eh, well," Amber shrugged. "At least it's not like you're going to die or anything." I gave her a look.

"Amber, that's what 'forfeit our lives' means." Fabian and I said at the same time. I didn't bother to blush or even laugh like I always did.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want anyone to get cursed as well, like this… crazy person!" I pointed at Fabian, acting and feeling like a 5 year-old.

"What?" Fabian protested, "If by crazy you mean trying to help you, then guilty as charged!"

"How is lying to me, saying you didn't have the Mark when you really did, helping?" I argued.

"When you're done squabbling!" Amber interjected. "I am trying to deal with the fact that my best friends are totally cursed here."

"Ditto the feeling." I murmured. Louder, "We have to go through that door, whatever the combination is. You don't."

"We can't ask you to take a risk like that just for us." Fabian said.

"Have you seen the colors I accessorize with?" she questioned. "I am the queen of risk." She did the Sibuna gesture.

"Sibuna," I rolled my eyes, but did the gesture anyways. Fabian repeated.

"Can we go find this mask now, 'cause I think they're doing cake upstairs." Amber suggested.

"Wah? I want cake." I pouted. Sighing with disappointment, I walked over the shelf. "1890, here goes nothing." I reached up and pushed in the code. I stepped back, but nothing happened. I counted to ten, and then sighed again.

"No," Fabian said in the same disappointment.

Then out of nowhere, a wave of nausea hit me. But it passed by so quickly, I thought I had imagined it. The shelf groaned and suddenly moved, sliding, to reveal a room. Cobwebs fell as well as some dirt and dust. I just stood there, stunned with my mouth opened.

After a moment, I closed my mouth and started to walk into the room. Amber and Fabian walked with me, side by side. We split off to examine the room.

It was seriously dusty. It was some sort of cubicle, like a secret office. There were loads of bookshelves, and therefore thousands of books. There was a desk in one corner and a couch nearby. A portrait of a man was on the wall, and I recognized him as Robert Frobisher-Smythe. There were lots of framed pictures along the walls.

"It's some kind of study." Fabian commented.

"Seriously?" Amber complained. "When is there going to be something behind Door Number One that isn't old and crusty?" There was a loud BANG, and I shot to the door.

It was closed, replaced by a wall. I shared a panicked look with Amber.

"Ho-ly crap!" I cried. I hit the wall, searching for a hidden lever or something. "W-What happened?" I brushed some cobwebs out of the way.

"This must be it," Fabian said, reaching for a button by the door-wall. He hit it and there was a loud groaning. The door slid open and I stepped out. I glanced around and went back in. The door closed behind me.

"Whew. We can get out." I breathed a breath of relief.

"Yeah." Fabian smiled at me and went back to looking at the desk. I noticed a picture in a frame and smiled sadly.

"Sarah…" I murmured, looking at the girl in twin braids and remembering her and her funeral. I picked up a pen and brushed off some dust. I gasped at what was written on it. Fabian flashed the light on it. "R.F.S. Robert Frobisher-Smythe. So this study was Sarah's dad's…"

Amber screamed. I spun around to see a portrait of Robert Frobisher-Smythe on the floor next to Amber. Where it once stood on the wall was a small cove full of necklaces. There were six of them. I walked next to Amber.

"Weird place to keep your jewelry," Amber commented. I picked the necklaces, amulets actually, off their hooks and placed them on the desk.

"There's a different hieroglyphic on each one…" Fabian noticed. "Spider, crocodile, cow…"

"They look familiar, I must have seen them before." I said. I picked up the map. "Look, it's the same." Fabian went to a bookcase, maybe to search for something. I stared at the map, hoping the answer would just come to me. "But how do they help find the tunnels? It's like a dead end…"

"Wait," Fabian came back to us, holding two dusty books. "Have you seen these? They look like… journals." He looked at them for a second. He murmured something inaudible. He looked to us. "They're Robert Frobisher-Smythe's diaries!" Was Robert the kind of guy to keep a diary? I didn't think so… "Why don't we take a few each, see if they make any references to amulets or doorways, yeah?" He handed the books to Amber and I looked around the room for more diaries.

_~ After school ~_

"Today I saw a cloud that looked like a sphinx," Fabian read aloud from the diary he was reading. We sat on the couch, Trudy setting the table for dinner, and I was trying to keep myself from falling asleep. Literally. That's how boring his diary was. "What a joy it is to be alive." Fabian paused. "This is so boring."

I slammed the book shut. "I want to burn my eyes out."

Amber walked quickly into the room, smiling. "I've got the low-down on that amulet– not omelets, whatever you two might think." I rolled my eyes. "They were worn for protection."

"Huh?" I sat up. "Against what?"

"Bad luck, danger,_ evil spirits_!" Amber listed, like I should already know it.

"And you found out… how?" I asked cautiously.

"I've always been the brains of Sibuna." She said. I rolled my eyes again. If anyone was the brains, it was Fabian. "That's why you need me." I gave her a look. "OK, I asked Jasper." I glanced over at Fabian with a bit of alarm. "But he's your godfather, we can trust him, right?"

"Yeah, Ambs, but we need to be secretive." I reminded her.

"Look," Fabian said. "I think we should go take another look at those amulets. Yeah?" I nodded.

A sharp _tink, tink, tink_ arose from the table, where the rest of the house finally gathered for dinner. Mick stood up, and Amber and I sat down in our usual seats.

"Uh, guys," Mick said. "So, I spoke to Mr. Sweet, and it's official. I'm moving to Australia." There was a small silence.

"What?" Fabian finally asked.

"When do you leave?" Patricia asked.

"Tomorrow." He answered.

"What! No way!" I cried.

"Tomorrow?" Mara repeated. "It's all decided?"

"Well, I reckon some people just can't wait to see me go." Mick sat back down. I slumped into my chair. Whoa, Mick was leaving. I didn't know him as well as the others, but he was a part of the Anubis family. And he was moving…

Mara got up from the table and ran off. I saw tears streak their way down her cheek before she disappeared behind the door.

_~ Later that evening, in study ~_

"If anything happens to Amber…" I said, suddenly realizing all the more dangers our finding provided. I walked from the desk (from next to Fabian) to the center of the room. "Oh God, if anything happened to Amber I would never forgive myself."

"Hey, it won't come to that." He assured me. I walked over to a bookshelf and flipped through the books.

"But it feels like a dead end," I moped. "Ms. Cursey Spirit's not going to be very happy."

"These amulets must mean something." He told me. "Amber said protection against evil spirits."

"Yeah, but a necklace isn't going to be something to block her out," I countered. Fabian didn't say anything else reassuring. A 'you don't know that' would've been nice, but in a sense, I did know that. Something deep down in my core rumbled to me that nothing was going to stop this spirit. I tapped a book on the top shelf, and it moved more than it should. I picked it up before it could fall out of the shelf and then it revealed a hole in the wall, like it was a piece or something. I gasped. "Holy crap, Fabian you've got to see this!"

I peered into the hole. There was a whole other room, covered in webs and thin light.

_~ Morning ~_

"So," I said as Sibuna sat at the table for breakfast. "We found the tunnels. Behind the bookshelf!"

"We just need to trigger the opening," Fabian informed Amber. "So I was thinking we go back down there tonight later tonight. Or sooner." Amber placed a finger to her lips as the rest of the house came in.

"W-h-o-a!" Jerome gaped at the enormous amount of food on the table. "Trudy, how many people are actually leaving?"

"Well," Trudy said as she placed a plate between Fabian and I. "Mick isn't the only one." My head shot to look at her. "I've been offered a job. Assistant curator of the exhibition." Alfie spit out the drink he had in his mouth. My jaw dropped. Now Trudy was leaving to?

"Congrats!" I grinned. At least she wasn't too far. She grinned at me in thanks.

"First Mick and now you? Since when did everyone become so selfish?" Amber commented. "I need you, Trudy!"

"What if we get somebody who doesn't think it's funny to blow spaghetti out your nose?" Alfie asked. Jerome laughed.

"Oh, don't, please." Trudy begged. "I'm missing you all already."

Mick walked into the room. I saw him stare at Mara, who wouldn't look at him. Uh, serious romantic tension.

"So, Mick," Trudy claimed Mick's attention to save him from an awkward moment. "One more day and then it's 'goodday Australia'!"

"Ooh, ooh!" I turned to face him. "Send me a postcard, ple-e-e-e-e-e-a-a-a-a-ase?" He grinned and nodded.

"Ready for boot camp?" Fabian asked.

"Really not." Mick said truthfully. "I'm guessing it's back down to my PT. Right, Mara?" Mara walked past him into the kitchen without a word. Mick left the room in disappointment.

"Right, c'mon." Trudy said once Mick left. "What are we going to do for his send-off? I've got enough food in there to feed a Mick." I chuckled.

"I'm thinking," Joy said thoughtfully. "Operation Make-It-Seem-Like-We-Don't-Care-And-Then-We-Jump-O ut-And-Tell-Him-We-Love-Him." We all agreed.

_~ After school ~_

"Trudy's in the library, so–" I cut myself off as Sibuna walked into the living room. Trudy was not in the library, she was in the kitchen. Stupid send-off party!

"Of course, Mick's leaving party!" Fabian muttered. "But we'll never get past."

"Shame." Amber said, not really as depressed as Fabian and I. Of course she wouldn't. She wasn't in the constant danger of life forfeiting. "Let's go choose what to wear."

"We could borrow the cellar key." I suggested. Before they could argue, I raced upstairs.

Like a ninja without skills, I snuck into the office. I was just at the key box when–

"VICTOR!" Fabian's voice rang upstairs. I froze. He was warning that Victor was coming. I ran back to the door just as footsteps rang out. "Victor!"

"Yes, is there some kind of emergency?" Victor's impatient snap replied. I ducked, he was right there on the landing! Mick was somehow in the hall and Victor yelled at Fabian a bit more.

"Victor, it's party time!" Fabian improvised just as Victor was at the door. Fabian started to loudly sing "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow". "It's party time!"

Victor moved from the door, angrily claiming he didn't authorize any party. I slipped out of the office and next to the girls' dorms quietly and quickly.

"SURPRISE!" the girls, Trudy, and Fabian shouted at Mick. I joined in, startling Victor a bit as I did appear out of nowhere. Muttering angrily, Victor went to his office. I met Fabian down on the stairs.

"That was too close," Fabian told me. "Did you get it?"

"I was no where near close." I sighed. "Plan A it is. Thanks a bunch, though, for saving my skin there."

_~ Ten Minutes Later ~_

Ten minutes later, everyone was dressed out of his or her school uniforms (I wore jeans, a cute tee, and my llama hat). The table was covered in all kinds of goodies. After a short moment, Fabian led Mick into the living area where we shouted "SURPRISE!" And went into a clapping frenzy.

"Oh, guys, thanks so..." Mick said happily when the clapping died down. "This is so amazing."

"Come and get some food. Trudy made a cake with your _face_ on it!" Amber said. We all turned to the table and dug in.

After a few minutes, we took turns taking pictures. I took the camera first, snapping shots every second. We took millions of photos, all containing Mick.

It all had to come to an end, and it did when Trudy turned the music off. "Sorry Mick," she said. "But your taxi's waiting."

Mick let out a deep breath. He did a handshake with Fabian, ending in a bro-hug. Amber hugged him next. She returned a bracelet to him, one that caused them a bit of trouble last term. Mara didn't show up at all, which upset Mick. "I best be going then." Mick said. I ran up and gave him a final hug.

It was going to be so different without Mick. Without our sports guy. He was our family, and he was leaving. Maybe for forever. "If you forget any of us," I threatened weakly, tears brimming my eyes. "I _swear _I will _go_ to Australia and I will _hunt_ you down." He chuckled and I let him go, watching him leave the house.

I walked up to Amber and Fabian, who were the only ones left in the room as everyone left to see Mick off. "Are you guys OK?"

"Yeah." Fabian said, still sad as I could tell. "Let's do something to take our minds off it. Victor's made himself scarce, so…"

"I never thought I'd say this but, bring on the cellar." Amber said. I smiled sadly and we went into the kitchen.

Back in the study, I looked at the bookshelf. "There doesn't seem to be a latch…" I noted. "But it's got some kind of bird symbol on the top." I fingered it.

"I've seen that somewhere." Fabian said. I walked back over to them, Fabian going through the amulets. "Here it is!" He picked one up. "It's the ibis, symbol of Thoth, god of wisdom and learning."

"Sounds awesome." Amber said sarcastically. "…I've seen him before. On one of these books." She went over to them and I looked at the amulets with Fabian. After a short moment, Amber screamed. I turned but…

There was no Amber. Or bookshelf, either. Just a dusty wall. But Amber's screams carried out through it, so she must have been behind the wall!

"Amber!"


	7. Blinds

_And here is the next chapter! Holy crap, I am so sorry for the incredibly long wait! I want to give the whole "school is consuming blah blah blah" excuse, but I can't. I have literally been too lazy to write. I knew I should've updated days ago, but I just couldn't get myself to do it. I'll try to focus on the story more and if I ever take more than two weeks to update without an excuse (i.e. no Internet) then I'll do a hundred push ups. And I hate push ups. Enjoy!_

**CHAPTER SEVEN HOUSE OF BLINDS**

"HELP! HELP!" Amber screamed.

"OK, we're going to try and get you out," Fabian yelled through the wall. "What can you see back there?"

"Nothing!" Amber responded in panic. My eyes flittered around looking for something – anything – that could help. "And I mean, _nothing_! There was a big flash of light and now my eyes don't work!"

"Booby trap," Fabian realized, looking at me with horror.

"HELP!" Amber cried, banging on the wall and making it shake. That's when I noticed a button in the corner of the bookshelf-wall-thing.

"Push that button!" I told Fabian, pointing at it. He pressed on it and the bookshelf opened with a creak and Amber yelled, clinging to it as the shelf swung to a stop. I took by the arm and led her away from the shelf.

"To those who trespassed where they do not belong," a voice made me jump, and I turned to the portrait of Robert Frobisher-Smythe. Oh, a recording? "The beacon of light is your warning song. Your eyes shall not see, all shall be dark, until Ra completes his blazing arc."

"Ra?" I raised an eyebrow. What would any of this have to do with the Egyptian sun god?

"The sun god," Fabian said. He looked tired, defeated. "He represents the sun's arc from dawn to dusk."

"So an entire day." I realized, figuring out why he felt so upset.

"Whoa, back up." Amber interrupted. "I won't be able to see for a whole day? As in, twenty-four hours? I have a beauty regime, this doesn't just happen!" She gestured to her face. I felt a surge of panic. How would we hide this from the teachers? At least her sight would return, but in the meantime, how would she be able to do stuff?

Fabian waved a hand in from of her face, but there was no reaction.

"Sit down, Ambs," I said, taking her by the arm and leading her to couch. Fabian looked at the bookshelf as Amber explained everything.

"Now, you're sure you pull the book with Thoth on the spine?" he asked.

"Yes Fabian, I'm sure," Amber's voice was hard, impatient. "On account of _actually _being able to see back then."

"Ah," Fabian sighed in frustration. "There must be a way to shut that trap off." I looked at the portrait again, and suddenly noticed Robert was wearing an amulet. It must've been a clue, telling those who noticed it that you had to wear the amulet of something.

"I think there is," I said. "Look!" I pointed at the portrait. I got up and picked up an amulet. "See?"

"Uh, hello? Insensitive." Amber said sarcastically. I smiled apologetically, but then remembered she couldn't see it.

"Sorry, Ambs, caught in the moment." I said swiftly. "But you said amulets were worn for protection." She nodded. Fabian looked confused. "Perhaps protection from blinding booby traps?" I explained.

"Brilliant," Fabian smiled.

"We should test it out while we're still down here." I suggested, excitement growing in my chest. "Amber, since you've been blinded, you should stay here."

"That's quite alright with me," she said. "I've had enough excitement for one day, thank you very much."

"Alright." I laughed. "Fabian? You coming?" I looked to him. He nodded and I picked up another amulet. Walking to where he stood by the bookshelf, I handed him an amulet and put on the other.

"Amber, stay seated, got it?" I told her, clinging to the bookshelf. "You shouldn't risk hurting yourself."

"Ready?" Fabian asked. I nodded, and he pulled on the book. My stomach lurched as the bookshelf swung into the dusty hallway.

Instantly, a bright light at the end of the hall shined, and a beacon poured out to the floor. I stared straight at it as it scanned up the floor and to our bodies. It crawled up my feet and up to my knees and then my waist.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

But light never reached my eyelids. I opened my eyes and saw that the light was gone. I laughed with relief and fingered the amulet.

"The amulets worked," Fabian said gratefully.

I lifted my hands together… and then realized that our hands were entwined. I hadn't even felt it, but we must've gripped each other's hands when the light came. Awkwardly, I let go, trying to hide my blushing face and erratic heartbeat.

"Sorry." We said at the same time.

"OW!" Amber moaned from the other side, just as a bunch of thuds were heard.

"We should get Amber out," I said, saving myself from an awkward conversation. "Before she makes a mess."

"Yeah," he replied. I held onto the bookshelf and he pulled the book.

_~ Next morning ~_

Fabian met Amber and me in the hallway before breakfast. Amber wore a big pair of shades. I held her by the arm and Fabian helped me guide her into the dining room. Everyone stopped and stared as we approached the table, surprisingly full of food.

"And the sun is where, exactly?" Jerome asked.

"She had a reaction to some eye shadow she'd bought the other day. Contained something she was allergic to." I lied. I had taught the story to Amber earlier, and told it to Fabian when we first saw him.

"Raspberries." Alfie said.

"Yeah, probably." I said.

Alfie got up. "Ambs, hold on I'll just get the–"

"No!" Amber intervened. "No, no fuss. All I have left is my dignity." I nodded, but rolled my eyes. Fabian pulled up a chair and I guided her to it. But as she sat down, she missed, and fell to the floor. I couldn't help but snicker as everyone laughed.

"Whoops!" I apologized.

"It's okay! It's okay!" she declared to the rest of the house and she stood up. "That happens all the time." She attempted to sit again, but then time landed on Jerome's knee. Otherwise unaffected, she went on to prepare some breakfast. Jerome stared at her weirdly, as did everyone else. I almost wanted to leave her like that.

"Good morning." Jerome said, as if she would get off by then. Amber felt around him, recognizing him by his hair.

"Oh, um," she tried to play it cool. "What? So a girl can't sit on her friend's knee anymore?" She sighed. Jerome shrugged and everyone else seemed to go along and continue breakfast.

_~ School ~_

I guided Amber by the arm into Ms. Andrews's class. Fabian carried her bag to her desk, and dumped it with a loud _thump. _"I'd never have offered to carry this if I had known it was so heavy!" he said. "Do you really need all this stuff, Amber?"

"Fabian, I hate to play victim," Amber said. I propped her up in her seat. "But seeing as I heroically took one for the team, it's just to heavy."

"Do you want me to carry it next time?" I teased. Fabian rolled his eyes and we took our seats in front of Amber.

"A whole day of this," he said before sitting down. "Time has never gone so slowly." I giggled and took my seat.

_~ After school ~_

I blinked, suddenly in my bedroom with Amber. Last I remembered, I was just coming into the house… Okay, these blackouts were starting to scare me.

"Are you sure there are no creases in this?" Amber complained loudly, arms spread out like an eagle. "I feel a crease. Is this a crease?" I smiled, bemused.

I tilted my gaze towards her bed, and my heart rammed into my chest. The spirit stood there in her darkening presence and I gasped.

"What?" Amber lifted her shades, like it would help in anyway.

"The darkness of her eyes must not delay you," the spirit told me. She reached out towards Amber, the Mark shining brightly in her palm.

"Please don't." I whimpered.

"Don't what?" Amber asked.

"Don't… change that blouse." I lied as the spirit lowered her hand. "It looks amazing."

"Find it, or pay the consequences." The spirit told me. She looked to Amber, then back at me. She smirked and then breathed at Amber, who shivered.

"Did you open a window? It's freezing." Amber said, completely oblivious.

"Let's go," I slurred, yanking Amber out of the room.

_~ Next morning, after breakfast ~_

Fabian and I snuck back into the tunnels. This time, we didn't hold hands when the beacon came. We moved on down the hallway, and it led to another hallway.

"This is awesome." I said, despite the freakiness. "I wonder how long it is…" I turned and got the answer. A few yards away stood a wall with a weird symbol. "Oh." I looked at it. It was a hexagon, with a bunch of triangles in it.

Fabian was studying at a slab of stone that rose from the ground. I gestured towards the wall and he sighed. "So we've got a door with no key and a pedestal with nothing on it."

"And a stocked bookcase." I added, jerking my head to the bookshelf that led us in.

"The bookcase is marked with Thoth," Fabian thought aloud. "The god of knowledge. And we get knowledge from books."

"And experience," I pointed out. I was suddenly aware of a section of books that were identical to one another, with the exception of a single letter on the spine. "But check this out." I walked over to the bookshelf and read the letters on the spine out loud. "R-E-B-T-R-O. Rebtro."

"I don't get it." Fabian admitted. I kind of liked knowing more than him.

"It's the mixed up letters for 'Robert'." I explained. Fabian moved next to me. I pushed the books next to the 'REBTRO' ones and moved those books to spell 'ROBERT'.

There was a groaning sound, mixed with clicking. We turned around as the pedestal glowed. I smiled triumphantly.

"So, it's what's on the books." I reasoned. "It should spell his full name."

"And Robert Frobisher-Smythe is definitely a full name," Fabian joked. We started pulling books identical to the ones we had already from the shelves and placing them in order. The more we spelled out, the more the pedestal glowed. But we didn't have the full name.

"We're missing 'Frobisher'." I stated. "Nine books. Where could they possibly be?"

"Frobisher library?" Fabian suggested.

"And my triumphant being-smarter-than-Fabian moment has passed." I sighed in mock disappointment. "Let's check out some books." We held onto the bookcase and it swung around. I walked over to the door and peered through the hole. There was Victor, doing something by a table.

"Oh no, we're late for Ms. Andrews," Fabian said. I held an arm out.

"Wait," I said, "Shh. It's Vicky."

"Hello?" I heard faintly. It sounded like the new housemother, Vera Devenish. Victor moved out of sight. "What an impressive cellar."

Victor said something else, but I couldn't concentrate very well with Fabian standing so close to me. It was quite obvious what they were doing, and I giggled.

"What are they doing?" Fabian asked.

"Flirting." I giggled. "Ugh, gag me, I think I heard Vicky chuckle." I looked over at Fabian.

"Aw, maybe he's in love." He said softly, jokingly. We shared a quiet laugh.

"Probably was a bad idea to come before school." I said, watching Fabian sit on the couch. I stood against the door, an uncomfortable silence filling the study.

"So, how's your gran doing?" Fabian asked, filling the void.

I smiled gratefully at him. "So far, pretty good. I got a postcard earlier." I sat down next to him on the couch. "She told me to ask how your poetry's been."

"Oh, well, not so good." Fabian admitted sheepishly. I couldn't help but giggle at his cute expression. A wisp of wind tickled my ears and I turned my head. The spirit stood a foot away, looking at me intensely and angrily.

"Timepiece, child," she said and I winced. "Watch the timepiece!" Then she vanished.

"Was that her?" Fabian asked. I turned back to him to see him looking at me with concern.

"Y-yeah." I replied a little shakily. Remembering how she almost touched Amber made my eyes sting. "It's like she's everywhere… watching."

Fabian wrapped an arm around me and I rested my head on his shoulder. Despite the scary spirit, some happiness crept into my heart.

_~ At school ~_

Turned out we totally missed class. And we got detention on Friday. But was it worth it? Eh, maybe. But since class was over, Fabian and I headed to the library to search for the missing nine books.

"Hi, Truds!" I exclaimed, entering the library in a rush. She was on the staircase and she screamed when I spoke, causing me to scream.

"W-W-What's the matter?" Fabian asked in a stutter as I tried to restart my heart. Trudy looked scared, and close to tears.

"I swear, I was only gone for two minutes!" she said. "I just went to get my cleaning things, and when I got back… They've all been opened." She looked to the rest of the library and then I noticed everything. All of the crates were open and thrown across the place. Packing peanuts were everywhere, like someone was making a mess in a hurry. "What's Jasper going to say?" She then leaned in and whispered. "And I think the intruder's still here. Up there." My head turned to lead to think of being in the middle of a crime, but then I remembered everything else I was doing and I thought that this was a lot better.

"What were you going to do?" Fabian whispered. "Dust them to death?" He eyes the feather duster in her hand.

"Have you got a key?" I asked in a hushed tone. She nodded, and picked up a set of keys. "We can just lock them in here and get help." She nodded again and we exited quietly. She locked the door in a haste.

Five minutes later, we came back with Mr. Sweet, but the intruder was gone. We were all confused, and Sweetie searched every nook and cranny. When he couldn't find anything, he left to see if he could find anyone elsewhere. Trudy and I organized the boxes back into a neater form, as well as check to make sure everything was still there. While Trudy went up to the second floor to phone Jasper, Fabian and I worked quickly to find more tomes that looked like the ones down in the tunnels. My bag was going to be heavy after this…

"Found another," I said, walking back to Fabian.

"Oh, that's great, that makes eight." He said, looking at another book. Yay, only one more.

"What're you looking at?" I asked.

"It's a lending ledger," he said. "It dates right back to the '60s."

"But if someone took it way back then and didn't bring it back…" I thought in panic.

"Big late fee." Fabian said. I almost giggled if the moment wasn't so serious. He browsed at the names. "Wait, yeah! Fables of Egypt, volume seven," he pointed at a column. "It was taken out."

"Oh no…" I said worriedly.

"But not long ago…" he added. "Someone called… Da Bed?"

"You Brits and your weird names." I said sarcastically.

"Maybe it's a code." Fabian said.

"And how do we crack it?" I asked. Before he could answer, Trudy came back down the stairs.

"Jasper's on his way." She said. "I hope for my sake that everything is still in here." She gazed around in a depressed manner. I tugged on Fabian's arm and mouthed that we should go. He put away the ledger and we left.

We rushed into class, late again. "Sorry we're late…" Fabian said as we hurried into the room.

"Yeah, something happened with Trudy and…" I trailed off.

"Twice in one day," Mrs. Andrews said strictly. "It is not good enough."

I racked my brain for some excuse. My mouth formed words and I spoke quickly but cautiously. "Pardonnez-nous, Madame Andrews. Nous aidions Madame Trudy avec son problème à la bibliothèque."

Everyone stared at me. Mrs. A looked at me with amusement. I smiled sheepishly, realizing I hadn't shared with them that I was actually quite skilled in French. Mrs. Andrews knew, of course, since she graded my papers.

"Nice touch, Mary Ann," our teacher said. "You just saved yourself a second detention, now sit down."

Fabian was smiling with a bit of disbelief on his face. "Nice work, Mary Ann," Alfie said from his seat as I sat down in front of him. Taking out my textbook and notebook, I started to take notes.

"Mary Ann, Mary Ann," Fabian whispered excitedly. "What if Da Bed isn't an actual name?" I looked at him with confusion. "What if it's initials? Look," He pointed to a plaque on the other side of the room. He read what was on it. "Daphne Andrews, B-E-D, Bachelor of Education. Da Bed!"

"I still don't see the D, though you could reuse the D from Daphne." I reasoned. I smiled at Fabian. "Oui, oui, tu es très intelligent."


	8. Boys

_Aha! I've got the next chapter up! Not too long of a wait (not like last time...) Anywho, I'm sure lots of you are excited for this bit, for someone is finally entering the plot. Enjoy!_

**CHAPTER EIGHT HOUSE OF BOYS**

The next day, Sibuna searched Mrs. Andrews's desk before classes could even start. "We just need that one lost book to complete the pattern." Fabian said.

"You think Andrews took it and left it lying around her classroom for two years?" Amber stated in disbelief. "Yeah right." I rolled my eyes and flipped through some books on top of a shelf. "Why don't we search her bag as well?"

Fabian suddenly straightened up and I heard the doorknob shake. I dropped my hands from the shelf just in time for Mrs. Andrews to walk in without her noticing it.

"Oh," she said in surprise when she saw us. "All very keen, are we?"

"Found it!" Amber said loudly. I turned around to see her holding a dictionary. "Mary Ann says it's a real page turner."

"Yes, that's a dictionary, Amber." Mrs. A pointed out.

"Er, yeah," I said, taking over. "I was saying that you had to turn so many pages to find a word, and then so many more pages to find another word. Page turning, lots of page turning."

"If this is a ruse to get you out of the detention I gave you yesterday, forget it." Our teacher said.

"No, actually, Mrs. Andrews," Fabian took over the situation cautiously. "This is about the Frobisher Library. A very important book has gone missing, apparently, and we thought you'd be able to make an announcement in class?"

"Well, I could do with it, but nobody's borrowed a book from there in years." She told him. "It's been closed up since…" she trailed off.

"What is it?" Fabian asked.

"Oh nothing," she said quickly. I could practically see her getting more and more nervous. "But I think I know where that book might be. Leave it with me." The bell rang.

"And now all we have to do is wait for her to return it." Fabian whispered to me as we took our seats.

"Hooray, waiting." I cheered sarcastically. This could take a long time.

_~ Lunch ~_

Or not so much time. I ran out to meet Amber, who was sitting on a wooden bench near the library applying lip gloss, and sat next to her.

"Alright," I informed her. "Andrews is back from lunch and headed in the same way."

"Does she have the book with her?" Amber asked.

"Not sure," I admitted. "Big bag." Then I looked around. "Where's Fabian?"

"They asked him to stay behind and tutor Joy." She explained. "Or something."

"Study buddy? Ouch." I felt sympathetic. Joy had missed all of last term because they mistook her to be the Chosen One. Now she was behind in class?

"Oops, I was going to break it to you gently." She said in an apologetic tone. I raised an eyebrow at her. Why would she do that? "Mrs. Andrews! Quick, hide!" She pointed off to the sidewalk, and sure enough, there was Daphne. I snatched my bag and we ran into the nearest bush. We spied on our French teacher as she walked toward the library.

"Do you see it?" Amber asked.

"It should be in her bag." I murmured. The teacher entered the library. "Alrighty, Operation Da Bed is a go."

"Da Bed? Is that like a code?" Amber asked. "I like it. Very CIA-chic."

I laughed. "Tell that to Andrews then." We rushed over to the library and snuck past the door into the main room. Andrews was there, and so was Victor! Crouching behind some crates, Amber and I listened to their conversation.

"Mr. Sweet asked me to borrow it some time ago," Mrs. Andrews said. "It was… research for our project."

"Yes," Victor replied. "Our project that you have now turn your back on."

"Well I don't think we have to discuss that now, do we?" Mrs. A responded coolly.

"A forword by Louisa Frobisher-Smythe," Victor brushed her off, reading from the book. "Sarah's mother. It's alright, Mrs. Andrews, I'll return it to the shelf for you." I gritted my teeth. Steal it, more like. Mrs. Andrews left.

"What now?" Amber whispered.

"Pray he puts it back." I said, but knew that probably wasn't going to happen. Surely, Victor closed the book and proceeded to take it towards the door.

"JASPER, TRUDY!" Amber yelled suddenly, dashing into Victor's way. "VICTOR'S TAKING SOMETHING HE SHOULDN'T! CALL OUT THE DOGS, QUICK!"

"What are you doing in here?" Victor demanded, clearly surprised.

"No, what are you doing in here?" Amber retorted. "Stealing books it would seem?"

"What– get out of my way!"

"What's going on?" Jasper asked, coming to the party.

"This ridiculous girl is attempting to prevent me from borrowing this book." Victor accused. And how ever right he was.

"These books are part of the exhibition now," Jasper said calmly. "Mr. Sweet's orders. Someone was in here tampering with the boxes yesterday. So, as you can understand, we have to be most careful." He held out his hand for the book, which Victor gave back.

I noticed his reluctance and eyed him as he left, but not before he muttered, "You have not heard the last of this."

Amber and I shared a grin of success. Now if we could somehow get the book.

"Lucky you arrived when you did." Jasper said. "So what can I do for you?"

We hadn't thought of that. After stammering for a second, Amber got a story. "Oh, yes, right, um, I came to say thank you for your advice about the amulets. Very helpful."

"Only too glad to be of assistance," Jasper replied, totally buying it. He almost left, but Amber cut in.

"I can take that back for you." She smiled innocently. Jasper handed the book over with no questions. If only everything else was so easy. Jasper went off to the other side of the room to talk to Trudy, and we made our escape.

_~ After classes ~_

"Last one, here we go." I said, holding the book. We were down in the tunnels, standing in front of the bookcase. Placing the book in its rightful spot, a creaking noise sounded overhead. The letters on the spines of the books lit up, 'ROBERT FROBISHER-SMYTHE' clear in red.

I spun around. The top of the pedestal a few feet away was glowing brightly. Something was sitting on top, erupting from the light.

"What is it?" I asked, intrigued.

"If it's shiny and expensive," Amber said. "I call dibs." The light died down to reveal a cube, the size of a Rubik's Cube.

"I think it's the key to that door." Fabian told us, looking at the dead end to our right.

"Try opening it," I said thoughtfully.

Fabian picked up the cube, all the light on the pedestal dying out. Fabian pulled on it, but it stuck. It jiggled a little, like there was a broken piece inside. He tried pushing on it, like a Rubik's Cube, but nothing worked. He seemed to grow frustrated. "Look, Mary Ann, we will find that mask if it's the last thing we do, I promise."

"Uh, alright?" I replied, not sure why he was pledging all of a sudden. "But let's think short-term. Like getting through the door." Fabian nodded, still trying his best to pull it apart.

_~ Night ~_

**"Watch the timepiece!" The voice screeched in my ear. I winced and glanced around at the surrounding darkness. I couldn't see anything; it was as if someone had covered my eyes with a weightless blindfold.**

**"Where are you?" I asked, wildly twisting and turning, trying to find something.**

**The voice carried on like I hadn't spoken. "You think it is easy to get inside you? That it is easy to get used to a solid form? You are nowhere near finding the Mask of Anubis, child, speed up the task!"**

I shot up in bed, once again tangled in my sheets. My brain was fuzzy and I couldn't remember where I was for a moment. England, school, bed… What was that something about the time? No, it wasn't the time. It was a task… wasn't it?

I stared at the sunlight that leaked into the room from the window. The more I tried thinking about it, whatever it was, the more I forgot.

Amber entered the room, her hair damp from a shower. "Oh, great, you're up." She beamed and started talking about how to wear her hair. I nodded when she asked about different styles, and suddenly I couldn't remember what I was confused about. Wait, I was never confused about anything. I had no reason to be confused. I got up and got ready for school.

The normal chit chatter was the soundtrack of breakfast. I listened respectively as Amber went on about shoes, nodding my head and murmuring "Mm-hmm" and "Yeah?" and "Really, wow…" at the right times. As much as I loved Amber, I just had no interest about shoes unless I absolutely needed a new pair.

All of a sudden, everyone went quiet. I glanced around at them; they were staring behind me. I glanced around to see some guy standing in front of the doorway. He was blonde with spikey hair (which gave me a flashback of the American boys at home) and dark green eyes. He was pretty cute, I had to admit, but he looked more like a bad boy than anything else. He was wearing the school uniform, so I assumed that he was my classmate. I'd never seen another student in the Anubis house before (and I'd never been to the other houses), so I frowned as my eyes followed him as he took a seat next to Fabian. Why was he sitting down?

There was an awkward silence as everyone watched him, studied him. Then I suddenly understood. He was a new student, replacing Mick. Everyone was acting the usual he's-an-outsider-we-can't-trust-him-yet, so I broke the ice. Standing up, I picked up the orange juice pitcher. "Want some juice?" I offered.

He looked at me like he was a blind man seeing the sun for the first. "Finally! Someone who speaks English!" I immediately recognized his American accent. I held back a victory giggle. Finally, I wasn't the only American! The mystery boy rest his arm against the back of his chair, his hand draping over Fabian's as he smiled at me. "You're the best thing I've heard since I've gotten here," he complimented in a flirtatious tone. I laughed, understanding the feeling of not understanding the dialect. I poured him a glass and gave him a smile, silently hoping he wouldn't take it the wrong way. Fabian seemed to be choking slightly on whatever he ate.

"When _did_ you get here?" Fabian asked. "I got a shock when I woke up this morning and saw you in Mick's bed."

"I can imagine," Patricia commented.

The boy rolled his eyes when Patricia spoke. "Yesterday," he answered to Fabian. "And I only had the pleasure of _Yacker _here," he looked over at Patricia. Then he seemed to remember something. "Speaking of which, who do we have here?" He looked over at Mara. Oh man, we have a flirt on our hands.

"Amber," Amber introduced just as Mara and Joy said their names. I rolled my eyes at how smitten they'd become. Seriously, he wasn't that cute. Or maybe I wasn't into blondes. I really did like dark hair…

"Hey, I'm Eddie," the boy finally said his name. "Nobody told me English girls were so cute." I rolled my eyes yet again and faked a cough. Uh, hello? American here? While I wasn't in to him, I still felt annoyed that I was left out of the complimenting. The girls were swoony and giggly as the guys retorted. Alfie seemed to try to make a point that Amber was his. After the commotion died down, I struck up conversation, weirdly intrigued to know this guy's past. Despite my inner feeling of no-way-in-hell-was-I-interested, it felt like I'd recovered something I had lost, but didn't know was missing. Plus he was American, so I had the sense we could relate on a lot.

"So what brings you to the world of English boarding schools?" I asked.

He shrugged as he set a cup down. "Ah, let's see," he said, and got a faraway look in his eyes like he was about to start counting. He took a deep breath. "Well, I got into some fights, then, you know, flunked my classes, and then the principal hated me because I said his daughter was cute, but she totally was." He laughed a bit, like remembering fond times. An echo of chuckles roamed the others. All of this pointed to one thing: Eddie was a "bad boy." Even more now was I determined to _never_ crush on him.

Patricia stood up. "Could you have done us all a favor and gone to another school in the States?" she said as she made her way out of the room. Joy chastised her before she exited, but Eddie took it like it was pathetic. Wow, either Patricia didn't like Americans or Eddie must have really pissed her off.

"She knows how to make a guy feel welcomed," Eddie remarked sarcastically.

"Ha!" I barked a laugh. "That was nothing compared to how she treated me when I first arrived. Didn't even wait until morning to pour water on my pants." A chorus of laughs ruptured, memories of my first days returning.

Amber made motion signs when it died down, saying that we should go. I nodded and got up. "Catch you later, 'gaters," I said before leaving the room. Eddie gave me that supposedly-cool, supposedly-seductive head nod, to which I smirked and walked away. Okay, maybe he was really cute, but still. Not my type. Remember that, Mary Ann.

Before we all gathered to leave for school, Victor was talking to Eddie in the boy's dormitory hallway. Victor already seemed to hate him (yelled at him for speaking with his mouth full, interrogated him for being out after ten). But it was totally cool, yet totally suspicious how calmly Eddie handled it, and how Victor didn't explode.

_~ After school ~_

Sibuna snuck returned into the house. "What are we going to do with this?" Fabian asked, retrieving the cube from his bag when we entered the main hall. I took it from him, glancing up at Victor's office.

"Tonight, we need to put it back." I explained.

"No time like the present!" Amber sang, taking the cube. Fabian and I protested.

"Vera's going to be making dinner at any minute," I argued.

"We don't have to go in that way," Amber said slyly. I raised an eyebrow at her. She opened the cellar door, which somehow had the key in.

"No– Amber!" Fabian whispered harshly. I groaned as she disappeared down the steps, and followed after her, with Fabian tailing behind to close the door. With no other option, Fabian and I agreed once we caught up with Amber that we should go. But just when Fabian opened the entrance–

"WHO'S DOWN THERE?" Victor's voice echoed down into the cellar. I pushed Fabian and Amber inside and slammed on the closing button.

"Victor's coming." I whispered as the entrance closed.

"SHOW YOURSELVES!" I peered through the peepholes as Victor strutted into view. He glanced around.

"He's there, right there!" I whispered to the other two. I peered back in through the peephole just as Victor slowly walked towards the shelf of the entrance. Fear gripped me, hoping that he wouldn't find us out. He got so close that I thought for sure he'd hear us breathing. But then he blew on a stuffed ferret and smoothed it with his pinky finger. He then backed away and walked out of sight.

I breathed. "We've got to go," I told them.

"Okay." Fabian whispered. I opened the entrance and we rushed up the stairs. Fabian kept an eye out on Victor's office as Amber closed the door. I suddenly remembered that I had the cube in my hand.

"Crap," I muttered, "we didn't put it back."

"Do you want to go back down?" Fabian asked.

"We should do it later." I decided. "I can hide it in our room." Fabian and Amber agreed and I slipped the cube back into my bag. Fabian went to his room and Amber and I made our way up to ours.


	9. Possibilities

_Hello once again! So... not much of a cliffhanger last chapter, but I think this chapter will change that. And it's official! Eddie's in the story! Hope he wasn't too OOC. Enjoy the chapter!_

**CHAPTER NINE HOUSE OF POSSIBILITIES**

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

My eyes flew open, heart pounding in my chest. Amber screamed continually in her bed, face screwed up and body cringed. Throwing off the covers, I ran to her.

"Amber, wake up!" I shouted, holding her biceps. "Amber!" Her eyes opened, and the terror in her eyes almost made my voice die.

I sat next to her as she freaked. "I saw the spirit lady! She came after me, she offered me her hand!" She glanced around fearfully, wringing her hands together.

My heart pounded overtime. "Did you take it?"

"No," she said quickly. "No, tell me it was just a dream." She patted herself.

"Just a dream." I breathed. I held her face in my hands. "It was only just a dream. I am so sorry for dragging you into risking yourself like this…"

"Hey, you didn't drag, I pushed." She told me. "And I glad."

I let that sink in for a moment. "Huh?" I leaned back and raised an eyebrow at her. "Some whack job spirit is after me and Fabian, and now attacking you… and you're glad?"

"Well, that might be stretching it, but with you here, life's never dull." I gave her a grateful smile. "Unlike your hair. You really have to do something about these split ends." She picked up a lock of my hair. I shook my head, but giggled.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Mara ran into bedroom. "What's going on?!"

"Nothing, Mara." Amber said in a tired tone. "But I had the most awful nightmare."

"Oh," Mara relaxed. "As long as everything's alright, then."

"Thanks for worrying, Mara," I smiled at her.

"Just making sure we're all safe." She smiled back. "Goodnight, then."

"Nightie night." Amber and I said at the same time.

_~ Next morning ~_

The next day was Donkey Day, a school event made by Jerome for some reason. And, because I didn't want to do any of the silly challenges, Jerome asked me to walk around collecting donations for the donkeys. Of course, the only reason I agreed was because he was going to do my chores for the next week.

And, of course, Jerome forgot to mention that I'd have to wear a headband with donkey ears on them. So I spent most of the morning walking around feeling more like a slutty bunny than a Donkey Day Donation Collector.

I somehow found myself at the Frobisher library. They did a really nice job cleaning it up and making it look Egyptian. There were mosaics of hieroglyphics and mini statues of the gods. Display cases were scattered throughout the library, each one filled with a different artifact. "Wow…" I mumbled in amazement, looking around. "Magnificent!" I made my way to Jasper and Trudy, who were checking over things.

"Would either of you like to make a donation for the Day of Donkeys?" I asked, placing my Donation Bucket on the table.

"Of course we would," Trudy smiled. It was always nice seeing her again. "Go on, Jasper, make a donkey happy." I glanced around the library again, but the something caught my eye. In one display case, I saw a bronze mask in the shape of a jackel. The replica of the Mask!

I heard the clang of coins in the bucket. "Whoa, isn't this the replica?"

"Yes," Jasper said. The replica of the Mask of Anubis looked amazing in person. Almost hypnotizing. "Imagine what the original must look like." Oh I was.

"However the original doesn't exist, you said." I pointed out.

"Yes, well, we shall probably never know." Jasper said, and my eyes drew back to the replica. His phone beeped.

"Have you gotten in touch with that Internet buddy you told Fabian about?" I asked him. "The Collector or something."

"No," he replied, rather rushed. "Uh, sorry, dead end. Now if you'll excuse me." He tried to brush past me but there wasn't enough space and his coffee spilled down my front. We both yelped. He muttered an oath under his breath as I dabbed at the hot liquid. Next thing I knew, he was gone.

"Why's he in such a hurry?" Trudy scoffed.

"I think I best be off, then." I said. "Thanks for the donation." I left the library and set off for the house to change clothes.

When I got back, I quickly changed, but ditched the donkey ears. I ran my coffee-spilt uniform under the tap in the bathroom before leaving it out on my bed (over a towel) to dry off before I could add it to the laundry. I glanced in my sock drawer, the usual reassurance as to I put the cube there, and nearly screamed. The cube was gone! I fumbled through the socks and undergarments, but it wasn't there.

I raced to the school, looking for Fabian. He had to know it was gone, I mean, we were in this together. I finally saw the dark-haired boy in the student lounge and rushed to him.

"It's gone." I said without preamble. "The cube, it's gone."

"What do you mean, it's gone?" Oh crap, I was really hoping it was with him! But, as I thought about it, why would Fabian be in my underwear drawer?

"As in, not there anymore!" I panicked. "I don't know where it could be. Just this morning it was in my dresser and now it's missing!"

"Maybe you put it elsewhere?" he rationalized. Before I could say anything, Joy came running to him.

"Fabian! Fabian, a word." She pushed him only an inch away, so I wasn't sure it was that private. "Mr. Sweet has asked you and I to arrange the grand opening ball!" Another dance? Under any normal circumstance, I'd be psyched, but with the cube missing, our only clue to finding the original Mask and saving our lives gone, I was in no mood to party. Fabian said something and looked at me, but I was too worried at the moment.

"Hey," I interrupted, addressing Fabian more than Joy. "I'm going to find that thing I lost, you two have fun organizing stuff."

"Mary Ann!" Fabian called after me, but I already ditched. Crap, crap, crap, where could the cube possibly be?

I ran back to the house and tore through my bedroom. Maybe Fabian was right, and I misplaced it? Oh, if only we left it in the tunnels…

_~ Five minutes later ~_

I felt tears of frustration build up in my eyes. It wasn't anywhere! Muttering a line of curses, I sat on my bed.

_Knock, knock_.

"Open," I grumbled, wiping my eyes. Fabian came in, looking particularly happy. Probably because he'll be spending loads of time with Joy, I thought bitterly.

"I got it!" he exclaimed and I looked at him weirdly. He held out his hand, and in his palm was none other than the cube!

"Oh thank God!" I threw my arms around his neck, overflowed with happiness. I held onto him for a few seconds, cherishing the moment he placed his hands on my hip and held me back. Unfortunately, I had to let him go. I took the cube and sighed with relief. "Oh dear, this has been such an emotional roller coaster."

"I would imagine." Fabian chuckled.

"And where was it?" I asked, staring at the cube. "Where was this damn thing?"

"Jasper said he found it in the school," Fabian explained. "It's a good job as well or we might have lost it for good."

"Please don't talk like that." I pleaded, sending him a soft smile. "That's the last thing I need on my mind." I looked back at the cube. "Now the question is how it got to the school. I don't remember ever taking it there…"

"I don't know." He said in a worried tone. "But it's back now, that's the main thing."

"Yeah." I breathed out, and then stared at my messed up room. "So I trashed the place for nothing, huh? Alright! Boy, out! I can't let you see my room like this!" I laughed as I pushed him toward the door. Just before he walked away, I said. "And Fabian?" He turned around. "Thank you."

He smiled and I shut the door.

_~ After school ~_

Closing the door behind me, I turned back to my bedroom when the dollhouse caught my eye. Along one side, a bright crack had formed all the way up, and then split in two up to the sides of the roof. I felt a spark of annoyance. "Oh fabulous," I told it. "A crack on the wall. How the fuck am I suppose to know what that means?"

Amber walked into the room. "Who are you talking to?" she asked, looking at me weirdly.

"Dollhouse," I said, gesturing to it. The windows lit up. "It just cracked."

"I'll get Fabian, he was just on the stairs." She said, rushing out the door once more. She came back with Fabian, who was looking worried again.

"Amber said it was urgent?" he asked. "Something happened to the dollhouse?"

I gestured to it and explained what happened. "It just cracked." Amber repeated. "For no reason? That's off-the-chart crazy."

"It could be a clue, you know?" I said. "I dunno, but it might be important." I turned to Fabian as he fumbled with the cube. "You're not listening," I whined, whacking him lightly in the arm.

"No, n-no, I-I am." He stuttered. He fumbled with the cube again and I looked back at the dollhouse.

"It cracked." I repeated, trying to reason with the event. "So it cracked, and as it went up, it split into two more cracks. Making a triangle." I made a triangle with my hands and squinted to make the shape out of the crack. Triangles… The door in the tunnel had a triangle missing. And the podium in front of the door produced the cube. I gasped, realizing the cube must make a triangle somehow.

"Fabian, you have to give me the cube." I turned to him and tried to take it. He protested and we struggled, but it managed to slip from his fingers and I threw it onto the floor. The cube shattered into a bunch of similar-sized pieces. I see it now, Robert. I see what's going on.

"Mary Ann!" Fabian cried.

"What is going in there?" Victor's voice echoed through the door as he pounded on it with his fist.

"Cover it," I told Amber, and the three of us made a human wall in front of the broken pieces just as Victor opened the door.

"Home for five minutes, and already an almighty commotion!" he exclaimed. "Well?"

_Actually, sir, you're the one shouting,_ I thought, though didn't dare say aloud.

"A lover's tiff, Victor." Amber started. "Mary Ann and Fabian are going out." I felt a pang of sadness at the reminder. She turned to us. "Sorry, were."

"Well, if you must _tiff_," he said the word harshly, like it was unpleasant, "kindly do it quietly." He closed the door behind him on his way out. Fabian started laughing, and it spread throughout Amber and I. We turned back to the pieces of the broken cube.

"The right one must be a key," Fabian said thoughtfully. Sorry Fabian, wrong answer. The pieces of the cube must've come together to make the triangle somehow. Maybe a pyramid? So many triangular possibilities.

I started to pick up pieced and fix them together. "Or not," Fabian said, and I saw him looking at a small piece of the cube. We all laughed again. It was rather simple, wasn't it?

A few minutes later, I had almost fully assembled the cube into a pyramid. "What's she doing?" Amber whispered loudly to Fabian.

I rolled my eyes and started to explain. "Dollhouse cracks, making a triangle. Cube cracks, I make a triangle." I showed them the fully formed pyramid, all that was missing was the very top that Fabian had in his hand.

"So the dollhouse crack was a clue after all," Fabian realized. He placed the last bit on the top, making the elaborate design along its sides glow.

"We should go to the tunnels." I said.

"Yay," Amber said sarcastically. "Do I have time to change outfits?" I glanced over at Fabian to see him struggling not to laugh, but I couldn't help it.

"No Amber," I said through a fit of giggles. "You will never have time to change outfits anymore."

_~ Night ~_

Walking through the tunnels while everyone was asleep, I clutched the pyramid tightly in my hands. The tip glowed a soft blue as we drew closer to the door. The hole in the door was shining brightly. I took a deep breath as I took a final step.

I placed the pyramid into the hole of the door. The pattern on it lit up, making an octagon shape. After a bit of creaking, it slid to the side. A draft breezed through as I smiled. One task, done. "Shall we?" I asked.

Fabian went first, then me, then Amber. The first thing I noticed were orange lamps on the walls, like torches almost. That must be one hell of a lighting bill.

"Sarah's dad sure had to think of a catacomb," Fabian commented.

"Yeah, but no life for décor." Amber said sarcastically. There was a loud groaning noise.

"What was that?" I asked. "The noise."

"Which one?" Amber retorted. "The creaky beams, the windy tunnel, or my heart beating out of my chest?"

"Oh Amber," I rolled my eyes. I had an unnerving feeling shiver up my spine.

The next turn was full of cobwebs. "Well I can't say I'm disappointed." Amber moaned. All of a sudden, she yelped. I turned quickly, and my heart stopped. Only a few feet away was a ginormous pit in the floor. And Fabian was pulled Amber away from it! I yanked Amber closer to me, staring down at the deep, seemingly endless hole.

"Spoke too soon." Amber said in a soft voice. We all peered down. Fabian kicked a rock, and it bounced off the wall in an echo, and continued to fall and bounce off the walls. It didn't stop until the clicking seemed to fade.

"That's a long way down." Fabian said. I leaned away and heard the loud groan again, only it sounded more like rumbling.

"I hear something." I said.

"Yeah, me too," Fabian said, panicking. We all raced back the way we came, but there was hardly any of the hall to pass through! The ceiling seemed to me falling down, closing in onto the floor! I crouched down to see that we had to make about five yards of distance under a closing ceiling of, at max, four feet. If we didn't make it, we'd be crushed. Or trapped forever if we didn't try.


	10. Hopscotches

_Hello, Internet! I'm back once more with another chapter, and not just any chapter. We've reached double digits! WHOOP WHOOP! Anyway, Grandma Norton makes a bit of an appearance, to which I hope you like. Enjoy!_

**CHAPTER TEN HOUSE OF HOPSCOTCHES**

"What are we doing?" I screeched. "Move!" The three of us started to crawl under the descending ceiling, rushing through to get to the end. Fabian managed to get out first and pull me out the rest of the way. I yanked on Amber's arm until her feet were out.

"My shoe!" she cried, reaching her arm under the ceiling. I pulled her back with alarm, but she clutched her recovered shoe tightly. "Sorry, sorry." She said when we stepped back. The groaning and rumbling stopped. "No shoe gets left behind." The ceiling moved again, but this time started returning up.

I breathed heavily. Oh man, that was too close. "Th-there's some kind of pattern on the floor." I noticed. An array of diamond shapes with different characters was displayed on the dust-covered floor.

"Traverse the grid with step or hop," Robert's voice filled the tunnel. "Follow the sequence, do not stop. All must complete the hopscotch test before the ceiling stays at rest."

"Hopscotch?" I yelled at the ceiling. "Really, Robert?"

"I can't hopscotch to save my life." Fabian confessed to us.

"Fabes," I told him. "You're going to have to. If not for your life, do it for ours."

"I was school hopscotch champion two years running." Amber announced. She picked up a stone and rolled it onto the grid. "I wonder if I've still got it…" She started to hop on the grid, and immediately the ceiling started to fall again. Fabian and I grabbed Amber by the arm and pulled her back. The ceiling went back up. "But I did it right, you saw me!"

"Screw you, Robert!" I yelled. "Can't even play hopscotch right!"

"It's obvious the ancient Egyptians did not know a thing about hopscotch." Amber rolled her eyes.

I looked back at the grid. "There aren't any numbers." I realized. The characters were all animals or something. "Is that supposed to be a duck? Fabian, can you take a picture?" Fabian pulled out his cell phone and snapped a photo. I wasn't sure how well it'd come out, but I hoped it would be good enough. "Let's call it a night."

"Even if we do learn the sequence to this," Fabian argued. "What about the chasm? How do we get over that?" I rubbed my temple. There were so many problems…

"You know Pink Power Ranger would do." Amber said. "She'd long-jump it. Or leap it. Or would she javel in it?"

"Amber," Fabian interrupted. "You're just listing sports."

"How many more freaking traps are there going to be now?" I questioned in frustration. "Ten? A hundred?

"A thousand? A hundred thousand?" Amber rambled off. "A million?"

"Amber!" Fabian interrupted. "Now you're just listing big numbers!"

"Yeah, sorry. I list things when I get anxious."

I stared at the hopscotch grid once more before we headed back out.

_~ Next day ~_

"But I don't understand why Sarah Frobisher-Smythe would have to—"

"Amber!" I interrupted, stopping her at the top of the stairs. "No names." Fabian glanced over the railing to see if Victor was there.

"It's okay, we're good." He declared.

"I'm just saying," Amber said. "An impossible quest doesn't actually have to be impossible."

"Nice to know, Ambs." I rolled my eyes.

"Wouldn't it be fun for once for a easy quest? One that doesn't involve death and matching marks or tombs?" she complained.

"But where's the fun in that?" I teased. "Either way, Robert probably would've made it safer if he knew children would be involved. But he was keeping the Mask safe, so it's understandable." We walked into the kitchen so I could snatch some food.

Back in my room, Fabian took out his phone so we could look at the pictures of the hopscotch grid. He sighed. "The first task was so easy." He paused. "Well, relatively easy."

I stared at the grid on his phone. "How in this lifetime will we ever figure out the sequence? Robert's crazy for not giving any clues to that!" I felt a pull in my stomach, but brushed it off as anxiety.

"This is tough." Amber stated. Yeah, no kidding.

_~ Next day at school ~_

I walked up to Sibuna in the hall just as Fabian said, "I can't dance" and Amber said, "You can't dance."

"Some luck on the Hopscotch Internet Search." I announced, not even bothering asking what they were on about. "Apparently it goes farther back that preschool playgrounds. There were so many versions, almost like a story being passed down through the ages."

"It makes no sense." Fabian said. "Hopscotch? It's seems kind of crazy for a middle-aged mastermind, doesn't it?"

"That's the point," I countered. "It's unexpected."

"He had a little girl," Amber added. "Little girls love hopscotch."

"I didn't." I said. "Never saw the appeal to it. Still don't, as a matter of fact." Amber rolled her eyes. I looked to Fabian, who had a look of triumph on his face, like he realized something.

"Of course, the dollhouse!" he exclaimed. My eyes widened. Why hadn't I thought of that!

"After dinner." I planned. Amber grinned like someone just gave her a pink poodle. She and I went to class as Fabian went to his locker.

_~ Dinner ~_

Preparations for the Opening Ball were a bust. Fabian somehow managed to break the microphone. Amber and I totally failed at unfolding a table, which then collapsed on her foot and she hopped around screaming. And if God didn't hate us enough, the power in the school went out.

Luckily, dinner was still on the table when we got home. Bad news, Amber walked on a limp.

"It'll be alright overnight though, right?" Fabian asked.

"You're going to have to invent a dance to forticate this." Amber shot back. "And what about the hopscotch?" I got Amber to sit down, but when I looked up to Fabian, he was talking to Joy. She was talking about a test coming up in Geography.

"Aw man," I said. "I haven't mentally prepared myself for that yet!"

But no one was listening to my not-so-important struggles. Fabian sat on the other side on the table to talk to Joy about their study-buddying. Suddenly my right side felt empty.

Eddie walked into the dining room just then. "Hey Eddie." I greeted. "You can sit next to me," I switched to a demonic voice, "if you dare."

"Challenge accepted," he smirked. I laughed as he sat down. "Won you over, haven't I?"

"You know he eats with his mouth open." Patricia said.

"Yeah, and he burps." Fabian added.

"And there is so much love in this house that I feel like I'm going to burst," Eddie said sarcastically.

"Just not all over me, got it?" I warned. We were the only ones laughing. "And if you eat with your mouth open or burp anywhere near me, I will personally kick your ass into next year."

"Advice taken." He said, smiling at me and leaning his hand on the back of my chair.

"So tell me about yourself, American." I struck up conversation, taking a biscuit. "Which state are you from?"

"Ohio, the city of Cleveland." He said. "All up north by Lake Eerie."

"Cool," I shrugged. Already everyone was chattering away with their own conversations. "I'm from California. The Golden State isn't exactly golden. Los Angeles is usually just hot year-round." He chuckled a bit at my lame joke.

"Why are you here?" he asked. "What brought you over the Atlantic to this school?"

"I got a scholarship. Saw an advertisement for it online and decided, why not? I hated my old school so I asked my gran and applied."

"Hated your old school, huh?" His face seemed to weaken in a sense. Grow nicer instead of cocky. "Guess we have some things in common."

"Yeah," I withheld a snort as I sorted through some salad. "Doubt you were bullied and accused of murder though."

Eddie choked on the food in his mouth. "Excuse me?"

I leaned a little closer to him, not really wanting the others to hear. I didn't understand it, but something in me told me that it was okay to tell Eddie. "My parents died when I was young. I was there when… it… happened, so the kids at school pointed the finger at me."

Eddie rested his hand on mine and gave me a sympathetic smile. His touch sent a zap of electricity through me, causing a blush to creep up my face. "And I thought I had a bad childhood with split parents."

"The weirdest secrets we reveal to absolute strangers." I said mysteriously. I suddenly retracted my hand. "Okay, favorite band?"

His soft expression returned to the normal cockiness. "Now we're talking."

_~ Night ~_

"Where's Fabian?" Amber asked aloud as she lied on her bed.

"Study Buddy with Joy, remember?" I mentioned. I sat down at the foot of her bed. "Ugh, I'm so bored."

"You know he knows how important this is," she continued. "He's even learning hopscotch for you! No boy has ever done that for me."

"Did he ever have to save not only your life, but his own as well at the same time, requiring to get past an obstacle of deadly hopscotch?"

"No," she admitted.

I grinned at her. "Silly billy." The door opened just then. Fabian came in with a smile on his face.

"I'm sorry it took so long," he apologized. I shrugged. Suddenly, he looked panicked. "What? Hello?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "There's a lit-up dollhouse right behind you!" I gasped when I turned to see the house.

It opened up to show miniature versions of the rooms in the house. Each room was well lit. The chimney was smoking again. "Sarah!" I exclaimed.

"The dollhouse!" Amber cried.

A light shined in one room, almost like a warning. "Pen," I realized. "I need a pen and paper!" Rushing to my bag, I snatched a notepad and pencil before returning. The dollhouse then started its message. Small figures rose from the floors of the dollhouse in bursts of light.

"M-moo, bam," Amber recited as I fumbled with the notepad. "Woof, quack, meow!" I wrote down the animals that made those sounds, the ones that came in the bursts.

"Did you get it?" asked Fabian.

"Cow, sheep, dog, duck, cat." I read off the notes.

"Yeah," Amber said, "Moo, bam, woof, quack, meow." She giggled and we high-fived.

"Wh– don't I get five?" Fabian asked, hand still hanging. "I saw the smoke."

"You get a three," Amber said monotonously, pressing three fingers to his hand. "Maximum." I burst out laughing.

_~ Saturday morning ~_

"Hey, Gran," I spoke into the receiver of my cellphone. "How is London?"

"Oh, Mary Ann, it's absolutely wonderful," she replied. I could hear the honks and zooms of cars in the background. "I wish you could see this place."

"Yeah, too bad I'm getting an education." I grinned.

She laughed. "Yeah, too bad. How's the education, anyways?"

"It's good." I started pulling on a pair of socks, holding the phone between my cheek and shoulder. "There's a new kid named Eddie, he's taken Mick's spot."

"Mick? That sporty guy that went to Australia, right?"

"The one and only. Get this, Eddie's American. Now I'm not the only one from across the pond."

"That's wonderful, hon. Is he cute?"

"I suppose, if you're into bad boys." I chuckled. "But he is a nice guy. Real funny."

"Speaking of cuties, how's Fabian? Is his poetry getting any better?"

I chuckled again. "Er, not sure about his poetry, but Fabian's fine." If by 'fine,' you mean cursed by a crazy spirit to search for a legendary Mask or die trying. Yeah, he's fine.

"What? You mean he still hasn't read you the poem?"

"What poem?" I straightened on the seat of my bed. I picked up my cell from between my cheek and shoulder.

"The haiku he wrote? To assert himself more in your relationship? What kind of connection is going on over there?"

My shoulders slumped. With a sigh, I said, "Gran, didn't I tell you?"

"Tell me what, ma puce?"

"Fabian and I broke up. A while ago, in fact."

There was an awkward pause. "What?" she asked. "When? How? WHY?"

"We broke up like a month ago. We realized that even though we were dating, it was just as if we were still only best friends. It was better for the both of us."

"Ah, Mary, why didn't you tell me a month ago? Wow, that's been a long time. How are you feeling about that?"

"Gran, it's alright. It's better this way, now that we don't have to worry about keeping our relationship going."

"Whatever you say, Mary." There was a particularly loud honking. "Oh, got to go. Bye."

"Gran–" I paused. So badly, I wanted to tell her about the mysteries. How, only last year, I had risked my life to stop some teachers from gaining immortality. And now I was risking my life again, and Fabian's life, to find some Mask. I wanted to tell her so badly, and have her help me and tell me it would be okay, even though I knew it would never be. I wanted to tell her about the spirit and the dollhouse and Sarah and the tunnels and the teachers. And more than anything, I wanted to run away and forget all about this stupid quest. But I was no longer a kid. I could no longer curl up into her side and have her fix all of my problems. Telling her about it would risk her life, and too many were already at stake.

"Yes?"

"… I love you. A lot."

She chuckled softly. "Love you too, hon. Bye." She hung up and I spent a few seconds listening to the beeping coming through the receiver. I then shut off my phone and headed downstairs.

"Hey," Fabian said to me as descended the stairs. He waited the two seconds for me to reach him in the main hall. His lips were curled in a small smile, which was still cute enough to make my heart beat skip a beat.

"Hi," I smiled at him as if the feelings never happened. I just needed a little more time, and then I'd be over it. We'd be back in the Friend Zone and I'd never have to worry about the sweet buzzing in my head whenever I thought of meeting up with him. "I like Saturdays. No school, huzzah!"

He chuckled. "Yeah, the best part of the week."

I leaned my back against the doorframe that led the main hall into the living room, and crossed my arms. "Then again, you are a nerd, so you probably like the school week." I struggled to contain a smile.

"Yeah, Mary Ann, I am such a nerd that Monday is my favorite day ever." He grinned and went along with it. I started to laugh.

"I used to love Saturdays." I said, "I'd just sleep in and then spend the entire morning watching television. Shame I have to worry for my life all the freaking time."

He gripped my arm lightly in his reassuring way. "We'll get through this," he promised.

"I know."

"Gather 'round, gather 'round, everyone!" Jerome called out, waltzing into the living room with his arms full of boxes. Assortments of clothes stuck out from each box. "I have, for your selection, the finest array of masks for the up and coming ball." He set the boxes down on the couch. "All of them reasonable prices. Any single mask could make your face more mysterious, intriguing, and charming."

"Oh, this one's mine." Alfie said, picking up a Frankestein head from the box. I got closer and rummaged through the selections.

"Alfie, you can't wear that mask." Amber argued, "my dress isn't green and you're not eight." I picked up a mask on a stick. It was a half-mask. The mask was off-white with golden designs that wrapped around the eyes. A big white feather stuck out on the side.

I grinned at it and walked back to Fabian, who was sitting on the arm of one of the armchairs. I placed the mask on and flashed him a smile. My lashes beat softly against the frame as I saw him smile back at me. "It looks perfect." He told me.

Then a realization dawned on me. Taking off the mask, I pouted. "I haven't got a dress for ball. With my busy body schedule, I hadn't even thought of–"

"Hello, Mary Ann," Jerome cut off, joining our conversation. "I couldn't help overhearing." I suppressed a snort. Yeah, right. "Now, I'm not only the provider of fine masks, but of fine dresses to go with them." I raised an eyebrow at him. "Reasonable prices." He added.

I snickered, and Fabian joined in. "A dress you chose, Jerome? I don't think so." He voiced my thoughts.

"Oh, they are pretty." Mara pitched in. "I've seen the one he sold Joy."

"It's true, I look amazing." Joy agreed before leaving the room.

"He's working really hard to pay off the debt so…" Mara added in a whisper before trailing after Joy. Oh, that would make a lot of sense.

"Hmm," I thought for a moment. Jerome managed to get a dress for Joy, and even Mara liked it. I got up.

"No," Fabian said, seeing me get up.

"Ah, what's the harm?" I persuaded. It was either get a dress now or have to search for one later. "And it is my dress." I added. "You shouldn't care." I skipped over to Jerome, though he met me halfway.

Holding up a dress, Jerome had this weird look in his eyes. "I promise that you will love it," he said. "But try before you buy because I do have a no returns policy." Of course he did. I examined the dress he was displaying. It was off-white, which matched the mask, and quite adorable. It was a one-shoulder, modern Egyptian style dress. The one sleeve ended at my metacarpals, but the hole extended to a longer piece of fabric that ended at my knee. The collar was threaded with golden beads, as was the belt sewed into the area just below the breasts. The fabric below the belt ended at the floor, loosely clinging to my body.

I picked the dress from his hands. "Er, thanks, Clark." I said. I looked back at Fabian and shrugged. Turning back to Jerome, "I'll try it on then."

Followed by Fabian, I walked up to my room. After I locked him outside, I stared at the dress and mask that now lied on my bed. I stripped down and unzipped the dress. Pulling the dress up, I noticed just how well it fit my stature. I zipped up the back, but after at one point I realized I couldn't reach the zipper anymore. Awkwardly, I realized I'd have to ask Fabian to zip me up the rest of the way. I sighed and opened the door.

When he first entered, he stared at me in disbelief. Then a grin broke through and I tried not to blush too much. "Wow, Mary Ann, just… wow. That really is a nice dress."

"Who would've thought Jerome could pick a dress, eh?" I laughed and turned around. Brushing my long auburn hair out of the way, I said, "Can you zip me up the rest of the way?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." He stuttered. I felt him take the zipper and heard it move up. When he was done, I turned around to face him, admiring the dress I was wearing as I did so. Fabian looked a bit dazed and I grinned at him. There was a split second when our eyes met and I thought, maybe even hoped, that he would lean that small gap between us and kiss me.

He stepped back and the thoughts vanished. A blush colored his cheeks as he adverted his gaze. I took a moment to gather myself before checking my reflection in the mirror. My hair actually went with the dress a lot better than I had anticipated. I picked up the mask and placed it over my face. It all went together perfectly.

I smiled at Fabian, maybe enjoying the swish of the dress as I turned a little too much. "This is so cool." I said. "Now, out! Out!" I pushed him toward the door. "I need to change back!" I locked him out of my room and looked at my reflection once more before getting out of my dress.

_~ Saturday, late evening ~_

Amber and I sat at the bottom of the stairs as we waited for Fabian to finish tutoring Joy. Amber complained ever once in awhile that we had more important things to do, like learn hopscotch. I didn't say anything, just tried to bear the pain of having my legs fall asleep.

Fabian and Joy entered the main hall. Joy said, "Listen, I just want to say thanks for everything– Ugh!" Fabian dumped all of her books into her arms when he saw us sitting on the stairs. They both looked at us for some reason and I attempted to regain feeling in my legs. "You know, after last year… you've been there for me." She took Fabian's hand and smiled gratefully at him. I could relate to Joy. Fabian made me feel that way too.

Joy snuck past Amber and me and went upstairs. Amber stood and I clenched my fist, feeling the throb of blood recirculating through me.

"Sorry," he apologized sheepishly. I leaned against the banister to stand up, but still couldn't feel my feet. The sensation was weird. "I had to be a–"

"Study buddy," Amber interrupted. "We know. Let's just get practicing."

"Give me a sec," I said as they made their way toward the end of the main hall. "My legs fell asleep." We waited a good minute before moving to our "grid".

"I'm out until my foot gets better," Amber said, "So I'll be the Simon Cowell."

I raised an eyebrow at her and snickered. She stood a few feet away and faced us. "Cheers or tears, it really depends on your performance." I took out a copy of our grid that we'd made before. The steps we needed were highlighted.

I glanced at the floor and then back to the grid. Starting to hop, I made my way toward Amber, yet still had to confer with the grid for every step. Eventually, I made it across and cheered.

"Yay, you're going to Hollywood!" Amber stated. We looked at Fabian. "Your turn, Fabian. Remember, just go with the rhythm."

He breathed uneasily and stepped forward. Moving along the same steps I did, too late did I realize that he'd run into me. He didn't seem to realize it until the last moment either, because he twisted awkwardly in an attempt to avoid me. Still, he bumped into me and we both stumbled.

We were both laughing. "I'm sorry," he chuckled. I helped him back to his feet as we laughed and smiled together.

"Not funny, people," Amber said with no amusement. "Not funny."

"What is so amusing?" Victor asked, hanging out of the window in his office to glare at us. We sobered up.

"Thank you." Amber muttered.

"Tomorrow is the day of the Grand Opening. I shall not allow you to jeopardize such an important event through lack of sleep or preparation. Go to bed now." I grinned sheepishly at Fabian before following Amber upstairs.

_**~ Grand Opening Ball ~**_

**"…It's always important that we remember, even though each civilization comes and goes, they always leave behind a footprint for the next one. And that couldn't be more important for all of us, today." Fabian finished his speech epically. I started applauding, as did everyone else. Wow, it was really inspiring.**

**The crowd disbanded as Fabian left the stage. Music started to play in the background as we reached each other.**

**"That was amazing," I told him, brushing my curly auburn hair out of the way. He gave a laugh.**

**"Would you like to dance?" he offered. I didn't have to be asked twice. Lifting my mask over my face, I smirked at him and we laughed. I put my free arm on his shoulder and felt his hands pull me in by the waist.**

**"You were right," I told him, though for some reason I couldn't remember what he was right about. "It all turned out perfect."**

**"Look, M-Mary Ann, I…" he stuttered, getting serious all of a sudden, "I know I've been spending a lot of time with Joy recently, and, but, I just want you to know she's not…" He sighed, getting his words together. "She's only my study buddy. You're my best friend."**

**"Do we have to be just best friends?" I finally asked. Before he could say anything, I leaned up and kissed him. Oh, how I missed the taste of his lips after all this time. He deepened the kiss, pressing his mouth harder against mine. When I finally pushed away, I felt the weirdest realization.**

**"Watch the timepiece." The spirit's voice echoed through my head as I took down my mask.**

**"We've got to leave," I said. "I know the sequence, I can go!" I started rushing out of the room.**

**"Find it! Or forfeit your life!" the spirit threatened. I pushed passed the people and ran back to the house.**

**Before I realized it, I was through the hopscotch court and in front of the chasm. Oh, shit. I'd forgotten about it. I walked a bit closer to the edge and peered over. That was a scary fall down…**

**"Watch the timepiece!" the spirit whispered. "You move at the pace of a dead beetle, girl! Why do you take so long?"**

**"It's not as easy as it looks, lady!" I shouted into space. "We're trying our hardest!"**

**"The Mask is in return for your life!" she reminded me. The Mark burned in my skin and I twisted around. The spirit lady stood a few feet away, glaring at me. "You've betrayed me and yourself. You are feeble, Chosen One. And you can be replaced!"**

**She lunged at me and I fell back, but the ground wasn't there. I twisted just in time to see the path on the other side of the chasm disappear from view as I began a plummet down. The sides of the chasm rushed by. My skin felt like it was peeling away. Screaming my head off, I suddenly knew no more.**


	11. Recurrences

_Holy smokes, it's been really long. There is no amount of apologies that I could give to make up for this. My entire focus has either been to school, to reading Das Mervin spork the __**Twilight**__ series (which I highly recommend you doing the same), and/or to the TV show__** Supernatural**__. But can you really blame me? Seriously, look at Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, and Misha Collins. THEY ARE GODS, SEXY GODS THAT WILL MAKE YOU EXPLODE WITH ONE GLANCE._

_Anyway... here's the next chapter. If you'll excuse me, I've got some push ups to do, as promised._

**CHAPTER ELEVEN HOUSE OF RECURRENCES**

I shot up so fast I almost got whiplash. My sheets constrained against my body like embalming wrap. I took a ragged breath, taking in the familiar sight of my bedroom and the sweet morning sunlight that was seeping through the window. My heart pounded against my rib cage as my shaking fingers loosened my sheets' death grip on me. Then I let my head fall back onto the pillows.

"Just a dream." I breathed out. "I'm not falling to my death. I'm in bed." I stared up at the ceiling, afraid to close my eyes again. What if my eyes closed, and the next time I opened them, I was falling again? And being in bed was just an involuntary function my mind made to block out my upcoming death?

Tears blurred my dry eyes until I finally closed them. I then kept them closed, fearing the thought of falling again. Tears swelled up underneath my eyelids at the thought of dying. Taking another ragged breath, I forced myself to open my eyes again. Ceiling of the bedroom. I sighed with relief, grateful that it really was just a dream.

I got out of bed and took a quick shower before heading downstairs for breakfast. Before realizing it, Amber dragged me into the kitchen to the corner where she and Fabian were previously. When I saw Fabian, I remember the kiss in the dream, and I blushed.

"Mary Ann," Amber said seriously, "you're never going to believe the dream Fabian and I _both_ had last night."

"Psycho spirit shoved me down the chasm." I said. Fabian looked at me with disbelief.

"Wow, that was a really good guess." Amber stated.

"I think she had the same dream." Fabian told her, eyes not leaving me. I could see the same fear I was feeling reflect in his blue eyes.

"Right," Amber muttered with a roll of her eyes. "Obvious."

"We're sharing dreams now?" I said. "Not to mention seeing the damn spirit… This is getting way out of hand."

"Wait, what if I have the Mark?" Amber panicked. I grabbed her arm and Fabian grabbed the other. Shoving her sleeves up, I scanned her perfect skin for a sign of the Mark. "I have flawless skin."

I sighed and put her arm down. "You're clean. That's one less worry."

"We can't relax, now can we?" Fabian said. "I mean, the spirit is reminding us that Mary Ann's life is at stake." _So is yours, Fabian._ Why didn't he mention that? "I mean, we have to get that–"

Amber shushed Fabian as Vera walked into the kitchen. Vera smiled warmly at us, which we returned. Amber started humming nonchalantly. Once Vera left, she stopped.

"We have to get her safely on the other side of that pit and we have to find the Mask." Fabian whispered. I nodded.

"In your version of the dream," Amber suddenly said with a wiggle of her eyebrows, "did you two get kissy-kissy?"

I started to stutter, feeling really embarrassed. "I-I don't think so, I can't really remember. W-With the whole falling-into-the-chasm thing, I was quite preoccupied." Fabian, who had been stammering as well, nervously laughed with me.

_~ At school ~_

The entire school was buzzing in preparation for the ball. I caught up with Fabian as I was delivering napkins to the student-lounge. Fabian had a roll of curtains over his shoulder. He smiled when he saw me walking with him.

"You know," he said, "one thing I do remember about the dream was that you looked–"

"I NEED YOU!" Joy called out through the hall, cutting him off as she ran to him, already distracted with the purple clipboard in her hand. "Study buddy! The dance lights for the ball are flashing and it looks a bit like a crime scene." She linked arms with him as she rushed by, "come on."

"Oh… kay?" Fabian said indecisively as he got dragged away. I rushed on to get the napkins where they needed to be, all the while wondering what Fabian was going to say…

_~ TIME WARP ~_

I sat on the stage, tying up round, red balloons. Amber approached. "Where's Fabian?" she asked. "We need hopscotch practice."

"He's busy setting up over there." I pointed to where he was. He was next to Joy, checking a sound system or something. Amber grabbed my wrist and dragged me over there.

"Joy, we're taking Fabian." Amber announced, taking Fabian by the wrist and pulling him to his feet. Amber may not look it, but man was that girl strong!

"What? No, no, no, no, no, no!" Joy protested, grabbing his other arm. "I need him. The smoke machine's not working, we've got no smoke."

"Sorry, this is far more important." Amber said, pulling on him. I stood to the side, still in Amber's grasp, watching the two girls pull on Fabian like a tug-o-war rope.

"What's more important?" Joy asked.

"We're playing hopscotch," Amber stated. I blanched. When you put it like that, it seemed quite silly to drag Fabian away. Amber tugged on Fabian so hard that he slipped from Joy's grip and stumbled into me.

I made my way through the curtain-covered doors, Amber still holding onto the both of us like a chain.

_~ Half hour later ~_

"Alright, Ambs," I said, regarding the drawn-out grid. "Try it."

Amber flew across the "hopscotch grid" (aka hallway tiles) with grace and ease. When she finished, she turned back to me with a smile. "Was that okay? I was a little shaky on cow through dog." I gave her a thumb up. "Your turn."

I started through the course. "Do you think we were a little mean, dragging you away?" I asked randomly.

"Yeah," Fabian said. I stopped on the course and turned to him. He looked up from the paper grid with panic. "I-I mean, n-no."

"Quack, Mary, quack!" Amber yelled at me. I took a blind step forward before looking back at Fabian. "Dog, not sheep!"

I glanced down to see my foot in the "sheep" tile. "Crap," I muttered, and finished the sequence. "Sorry, I'll do it correctly next time." I told Amber. It was Fabian's turn.

He kept looking back at the paper grid and lost his balance a little bit on dog. He then finished, and it took him a moment to realize he did it all right. "I got it!" he cried. "I think I might be–"

"A little girl." Jerome finished, entering the hall from the kitchen, Alfie behind him. He laughed as he walked by to his room and Fabian's face was red.

"We're ready." Amber said excitedly, despite the run-in with Jerome. I started realizing that learning hopscotch was taking a toll on Fabian's mojo whenever the other guys in Anubis house found out. Jerome, Alfie, and Eddie all laughed at him when they found out.

"Alright, let's do this before I lose anymore street cred." Fabian joked.

"Oh Fabian, like you have any to lose." Amber rolled her eyes as she walked past.

"Wha?" he protested a little before the two of us laughed.

"Why are you still here?" Victor asked, descending from the stairs as we stood in the main hall. He was dressed in a tux and bowtie. "The opening to the exhibition will begin in fifteen minutes and you still must change! Run along, please!"

Amber squealed in panic. She raced up the stairs like lightning, screaming about how much work needed to be done. I followed up silently.

_~ Opening Ball ~_

Jasper finished his speech in the Frobisher Library. Everyone clapped. I brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. In a quick fix, Amber managed to pull my hair into what she called "a bump and a twist". A side part, a teased crown, and a sleek twist all came together in a low, messy bun. It looked super cute with the dress.

Mr. Ziestack cut the ribbon, official declaring that the exhibition was open. Cameras clicked and people clapped. After the whole shazam was over, Fabian came over to my spot and offered a glass of pink lemonade. I took it with a thankful smile.

"You look…" he trailed off.

"Look what?" I asked. "Ridiculous? Absurd? Out of place?"

"Better than the dream." He finished. I blushed, not sure to take it as a compliment or not.

"Well," I said, raising my glass. "Here's to the hope that I don't have to relive that damn dream." He suddenly looked discouraged. I quickly added, "Falling down that chasm was terrifying."

"Yeah, yeah, absolutely." Fabian agreed and we trailed off into an uncomfortable silence. "Come and check this out." He said, jerking his head in a direction. We walked over to a bookshelf. "Aren't these books amazing? They're all so old, yet they've managed to maintain an almost-perfect condition."

"It really is a miracle." I commented. I glanced down at my dress, smoothing out an wrinkles. "Gods, it feels nice to have a quiet night."

"What?" Fabian chuckled.

I gestured to our surroundings. "We've all been so panicked about setting up in time for the Grand Opening. What with lighting, table sets, snacks, music…" I sighed. "I've had enough. And now it's done. And I can relax."

He chuckled. "I think you should worry more about surviving the night, though."

"Obviously." I rolled my eyes with sarcasm. After poking him in the chest, I noticed that everyone was adverting their attention to the bake-off. I grabbed Fabian's hand and dragged him over to Amber.

"Guys," I said, "now's the time to finished the hopscotch."

"But the ball will be starting soon," Amber complained.

"And will last the night." I countered. "You have all of then to dance." I placed my glass on the table and we made our escape.

_~ In the tunnels ~_

Sibuna lined up in front of the hopscotch grid. "Okay," Amber said, "No mistakes. No stopping. And if the ceiling starts coming down, go back at start again. It won't stop until we're all across. Remember, don't stop or the ceiling drops. For Mary Ann, for the Mask, for Sibuna." Amber lifted her hand (which held a shoe) over her right eye in the gesture.

"Sibuna." Fabian and I copied.

With a deep breath, Amber walked up to the grid. "Moo, bam, woof, quack, meow!" she recited as she hopped across. I cheered as she made it across safely. "Come on, Mary!"

I stepped up the grid. I started hopping, but then I suddenly couldn't remember the sequence. The ceiling groaned, about to come down.

"QUACK, MARY ANN, QUACK!" Amber shouted. "Don't stop! You can't stop, Mary!" I jumped over to the proper tile and finished. I turned around and beaconed Fabian to come.

He started to hop, but then his legs got caught on a stick poking out of the ground. With a shout of surprise and a missing beat of my heart, he toppled over.

"No!" I screamed. "Fabian, you have to get up!"

Fabian scrawled out of the way, back at the start. The ceiling was four feet above the ground and lowering. Fabian stepped onto the first step, but the ceiling was getting too low over the other steps. He bent over, his hands hitting the right tiles. He pushed up and managed to finish the sequence. He crawled out from under the trap and I grabbed his arm to pull him further away.

"Oh thank goodness," I murmured under my breath. The ceiling froze in place and then started moving back up. Fabian was breathing heavily.

"You lose, Mr. Ceiling!" Amber taunted.

I gave Fabian a hug. "Could've sworn we lost you."

"No chance." Fabian breathed with a wide grin on his face when I let go.

"I'm impressed." Amber admitted.

"I messed up." Fabian protested.

"No, I mean I had no idea you could do push-ups."

Fabian gaped at her with sarcastic disbelief. I chuckled and Amber started to move along the tunnels.

We made our way to the chasm. Seeing it then made it even more terrifying than before. Needless to say, I kept close to the wall. Amber put her heels back on. The pit seemed to loom on into forever. If I fell down there… I shuddered.

"What?" Fabian said in alarm.

"What?" Amber repeated.

"Nothing, nothing." I assured them. "I'm just hoping I don't fall down there… That the dream doesn't come true."

"No, look," Fabian said in a reassuring tone. "It won't when we're with you. You're alone in the dream, right?"

"When you say it like that, it sounds worse." I complained, but was secretly grateful that he reasoned so well. "A lonely death." I walked a bit closer to the edge and stared at the other side. "How can we cross though?"

"Okay, I may hop but I can say right now, I don't jump." Amber stated.

"No, we're not jumping." Fabian said. "There must be some way to get across… What's that?" He pointed to a jutting rock on the other side.

"It looks like something goes on it." I voiced my thoughts. I glanced at the walls for a type of plank.

"It must be in the house somewhere." Fabian guessed.

"People, look at the time!" Amber declared. I turned to see her holding Fabian's arm and looking at his watch. "Our Mask will have to wait. I've still got mine and Alfie's to worry about."

"But we're finally getting somewhere." Fabian argued.

"That's it," I interjected before Amber would blow a fuse. "We've gotten somewhere. Maybe we can relax a bit."

"But the dream," Fabian said stubbornly, but I could see his defenses weakening.

"As long as I refrain from doing stuff like I did in the dream," I rationalized, "nothing'll happen." As long as I don't dance or kiss Fabian, I'll be good. I felt a bit dejected with the thought, but brushed it aside.

"Oh, relax, Fabian," Amber moaned. "We'll have fun, you can spend the time thinking about where to find the bridge."

Amber pushed me toward the exit.

_~ At the ball ~_

We entered the hall to see Alfie slauntering toward us in a Frankenstein Monster mask. Fabian and I laughed as Amber glared at Alfie.

"We agreed you wouldn't wear the Frankenstein mask!" she said.

"I know I did," Alfie said, pulling off his mask. "Frankenstein was the scientist, not the monster." I chuckled.

"What?" Amber said, unfazed by his loophole. She turned to me. "See what I'm up against? This is why we have to get a move on. Look at this!" She gestured to his feet, which were clothed by red sneakers. "They're not even green!"

"Amber, these sneakers cost more than the suit." Alfie told her.

"Really? Okay, look, now we have to find you a red mask." She started to drag Alfie away. 'Help me!' he mouthed. I laughed along with Fabian as the two pushed through the curtain.

"Shall we?" Fabian asked, gesturing toward the curtain-door.

"Sure." I smiled at him. "Ugh, my hair's going to look black in the lighting. Oh well." I intertwined our fingers and made my way through the curtain.

The first thing I saw was an off-white dress. Not just any off-white dress, but my off-white dress. On someone else. And that someone else was Joy. And her hair was in a style almost exactly like mine. The smile on my face faded, as did hers.

She turned to Jerome. "Are you kidding me?" she asked. "Jerome, you said this dress was one of a kind!"

"Hey, he said that to me too!" I added.

"You see, now it's dramatic." Jerome said to Joy, an inside joke apparently. I'll show him dramatic. "Girls, girls, I can explain, but before I do I have to–" He sprinted away.

"Jerome!" Joy and I called after him in unison.

He returned, but kept a distance. "I can explain, but before I do, may I please introduce Mrs. Andrews!" Our French teacher walked through the doors. As if it wasn't bad enough to wear the same dress as Joy, Mrs. A was wearing the same dress!

"Jerome!" the three of us yelled. Just then the band started to play rock music. Weird enough how this was a masquerade ball, so it should be classical… Not that I minded… Victor ran onstage and pulled the breaker. The lights went out for a second and people cheered. Jerome disappeared.

Joy and I stormed through the party, looking for Jerome. What was he thinking, selling the same dress to three people?

I saw Mara talking to the glasses of lemonade. I raised an eyebrow at her, but then saw the big hair of Jerome's big head behind the table. "There!" I pointed. Joy and I made our way to them.

"Jerome." Joy said threateningly. Jerome cringed.

"Why would you sell us the same dress?" I questioned.

He stood. "Technically, not the same dress."

"Jerome!" Fabian said loudly. Jerome cringed again.

"It's not my fault!" he carried on in a hurry.

"Yes it is!" I yelled.

"I honestly, honestly thought they were different, and, by the way, aren't we all ignoring a key point here?" I raised an eyebrow. "The fact is you both look stunning."

"Flattery won't get you out of this." I growled.

"Don't they both look stunning, Fabian?" Jerome asked.

"I-I-I think everything looks stunning, everything." Fabian stammered nervously. I bit back a laugh at his flustering.

"Jerome, you have to give them their money back." Mara scolded.

I held out a hand. "Listen to the brain you don't have, Clark." I told him. He paid the two of us back and I left the room (Fabian coming with me).

I walked over to the table with the masks. Scanning the white cards with names on them, I finally found my own. The card reading 'MARY ANN' was over the stick of the white and gold mask I'd chosen from the box awhile back. "Aha," I declared, picking it up. I placed it over my face and Fabian chuckled.

"So far, nothing like the dream." Fabian said.

"Thank God for that." I replied. "I was quite sure there wasn't a thrash metal band."

"No, there wasn't, there was classical music." He smiled fondly.

"So you do remember." I teased. "I thought you said this morning you'd forgotten."

"Bits." Fabian mumbled in embarrassment. Just then, there was a drumroll and the curtains to the stage drew. The band started to play… the exact same music as in the dream.

"Marvelous!" Mr. Ziestack called from behind us.

"It's classical music." Fabian said in disbelief.

"The-The dream is becoming reality." I said. We turned to each other.

"No, Mary Ann–"

"I'm going to fall down that freaking pit!"


End file.
